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50 WEAPONS (GERMANY)

ADDISON GROOVE: Presents James Grieve CD (50 016CD)15.50File under: junglish-footwork flux by one of UK bass music's figureheads. Excellent sophomore album including collaborations with DJ Die, Sam Binga, MC DRS and Josefina. "Bass music arguably wouldn't be what it is right now without Addison Groove." Resident Advisor, March 2012; Boomkat wrote about Addison Groove's debut album Transistor Rhythm (50 006CD/LP): "Addison Groove, drawing on juke, electro, dubstep, ghetto-house and jeep-rocking hip-hop variants to create super-heavy bass music, leaves you with no alternative but to dance and/or bite your lower lip raw." The dancing and lip-biting parts still count for his follow-up James Grieve, but the influences and music genres have slightly changed. There's a strong jungle influence present from beginning to end. James Grieve is also less raw and jackin' than the predecessor and seamlessly combines spacious, laid back and more rollin' tracks with a bunch of straightforward club bangers. While Transistor Rhythm was definitely Chicago-inspired, James Grieve is pure Bristol through-and-through.

A.R.T.LESS (GERMANY)

BROWN, STEPHEN: Illuminance EP 12" (ARTLESS 2191EP)14.00Stephen Brown is an institution when it comes to cutting-edge Detroit techno made in Europe and therefore needs no introduction. He has been on top of the game for almost two decades and knows how to convince with his trademark hi-tech soul. His new release, the Illuminace EP, marks the return of Mojuba sublabel a.r.t.less and brings two killer tunes from the vaults of the Realtime label boss. The A-side aims clearly at the dancefloors of our beloved underground clubs, the B-side comes along with a great portion of compelling emotions and funk.

ACCORD

MARLEY & THE WAILERS, BOB: Jamaican Storm LP (SN 7211LP)12.00Exact repro, originally released in 1982. Tracks include "Treat You Right," "Soul Rebel," "Hammer" and "How Many Times." "This early recording by Bob Marley and the Wailers is a fine example of the artistry and talent of the group that have now become legendary."

ALGA MARGHEN (ITALY)

CORNER, PHILIP: 3 Pieces for Gamelan Ensemble CD (NMN 034CD)19.501999 release. "Gamelan" means for Philip Corner more than the name for Indonesian orchestras. The composer uses the word the way, apart from Europe, someone might say "symphony." A basis of making music, adding a few wonderful ideas from the Orient: a precise relation between the scale of time and that of musical space; a simple formal concept, expressed directly through sensual attractiveness; some freedom, or mystery, added to the precision. "Gamelan" is the name of the first piece. In 1975 at Livingston College where Barbara Banary, who had just constructed the earliest instruments for Son Of Lion, invited Philip Corner to compose a piece. Its opening gong stroke and long resonance has gone through several revivals over the years since, and has come to seem like a "classic." This piece is the link to the composer's earlier works, particularly those of struck resonant instruments, like Metal Meditations, which are intensely focused on the immediate presence of the sounds. What is added here is counting, although counting so long a length dissolves again into the intuitive. The second track on this CD is titled "The Barcelona Cathedral." The composer Tom Johnson wrote about it in 1978: "A few weeks ago I attended a rehearsal of New York's own gamelan ensemble, Son Of Lion. One of the works I heard that evening was a new composition by Philip Corner. Corner was conducting in big slow beats that fell heavily once every few seconds. With each beat about 10 mallets fell onto the metallic percussion instruments with a tremendous clang. A variety of pitches resulted, and the general effect was much like a big church bell. The piece went on for nearly half an hour, always with that same relentless beat, but with slightly different effects." These first two compositions, first issued on LP for Lotta Poetica, have been remastered for this CD edition that also features a previously-unpublished major work entitled "Belum." The author wrote about it: "There is improvisation within a structure that only reveals itself over many repetitions. The melody is quite difficult, with many syncopations and rhythmic irregularities. We have learned it well, but since no one knows exactly how each will play, there is individual freedom and group chance results. Bringing together different cultures in a new kind of harmony. ...It [the music culture of Indonesia] has added to my previous development sense of music as wonderful-sound, the sense of music as wonderful-measure. Thanks to this, I now love numbers and with no diminishing of the senses..." 16-page booklet, color photos, graphic notations and scores are included with liner-notes written by Philip Corner.

CORNER, PHILIP: Gong + CD (NMN 042CD)19.502002 release. Gong + presents three previously-unpublished compositions by Philip Corner recorded in New York City, 1974. "Metal Meditations with Listening Center," a 29-minute long piece, is a collaboration between Philip Corner and Bill Fontana. At that time Bill Fontana was very interested in the resonance properties of every object, putting his ear to everything, and sometimes recording what he called "Listening Centers," a microphone placed in a resonating space (for example a jar, or a pipe) recording the environment with no intervention from the artist. This time the "Listening Center" was integrated as an active element on two pages from "Metal Meditations" ("one stroke: vigorous: one resonance" and "these are twirlings, sworlings") performed at the Intermedia Foundation. The continuous resonance of metal objects mixed with the chaotic sounds of New York City distorted through the "Listening Center." Gong! is a series of works and can be considered forms of kinds of "Metal Meditations." They are more-elaborated performing plans for/on this "prototype of all rich resonances," so, are musics assuming long-resounding & more-than-single-pitched large-surfaced (likely) lower-tone-favoring metals. Some substitutions are possible: piano -- low clusters and selected sonorities. Colors controlled from pedal. Struck by soft stick(s) or from keyboard. This specific version, titled "2 as entrance - passageway (resounding regularly)," was recorded on May 22nd, 1974 at The Kitchen and performed by Philip Corner, Brian Dallow, Daniel Goode and Carole Weber. The piece starts with deep resonances of the gong played by two performers and very slowly fades into the pulsation of the low-key strings of the piano. The last composition, taken from a different series of works titled "Pulse Polyphony," was also recorded at The Kitchen during the same festival. "Pulse Polyphony" compositions may use very different materials; one of them (the central part of "Oracle," an electronic music piece) was included in On Tape from the Judson Years, a previous CD issued by Alga Marghen. The version presented here is the passage from string piano to bell-tree.

CORNER, PHILIP: More from the Judson Years, (Early 60s) Instrumental-Vocal Works Vol. 1 CD (NMN 055CD)19.502004 release. "Yet not to forget that extraordinary place where so much of the new and exciting performances at that most interesting time in New York, took place. There was a Theater there; and a place for the first Happenings. An Art Gallery... and later the famous Judson Dance Theater -- the site of Philip Corner's first performance. The concert was in early 1962, January 2nd, to be exact. Excerpts from the liner notes of volume one of More from the Judson Years, Early 60s, written by Philip Corner: "Handwritten change on typescript: Yoko Ono's studio, changed at the last moment to Judson Church. A lot of players; and a lot of pieces. Some of my old friends, like Toshi Ichiyanagi and Richard Maxfield. And a lot of new names from California, Dick Higgins and Alison Knowles, the connection between the old New York and this new scene." "Passionate Expanse of the Law" (1959) is an extract from the first NY performance, featuring Charlotte Moorman, Philip Corner, and Malcolm Goldstein. "I wrote this on an Army cot in Texas, in the Fall of 1959; a continuation of and a major development in my exploration of maximum disjunction." "Air Effect" (1961), first performance, featuring Philip Corner, Alison Knowles, and Malcolm Goldstein. "From 1961 already my music became characterized more and more by attention to the continuous quality of sound. A chamber ensemble, dedicated to directness of breathing." This piece follows through in theme to "OM Emerging" (1971). "As Pure to Begin" (1963), Philip Corner, piano with preparations, objects and amplification. "The purity of keyboard sounds turn progressively noisy, effected by the strings themselves being touched, and touched by objects which are then laid on them and magnified by microphones." "Music, Reserved Until Now" (1963), recorded at Judson, 1965 and featuring A-yo, David Behrman, Philip Corner, Malcolm Goldstein, Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Jackson Mac Low, Charlotte Moorman, Nam June Paik, and Chieko Shiomi. "A score for non-traditional sound sources." "Composition With or Without Beverly" (1962), recorded at ONCE Festival in 1963; Philip Corner, piano with prepared tape sounds. Including a 12-page booklet with liner notes, scores and original documentation.

CORNER, PHILIP: More from the Judson Years (Early 60s) Instrumental-Vocal Works Vol. 2 CD (NMN 056CD)19.502004 release. Excerpts from the liner notes of More from the Judson Years (Early 60s) Instrumental-Vocal Works Vol. 2, written by Philip Corner: "Everything Max Has" (1964), Max Neuhaus solo, recorded at the ONCE Festival, 1965. "A performance of Max's taking down all of his stuff; tons of equipment filling entire stages." "Big Trombone" (1963), Jim Fulkerson improvisation over tape collage. "Homage to Revere" (1962) for ensemble of copper-bottom kitchen utensils. "Punkt" (1961) for ensemble of staccato sounds. "Since the critics were calling us the plink plunk school, I contributed a composition favoring only those punkts for centuries having defined and inhibited Western music." "Passionate Expanse of the Law' (1959) for ensemble, recorded at the Composers' Forum, NY, 1972. "Expressions in Parallel" (1958) for ensemble. "From my earliest compositions I have been more enticed by an opening out towards greater possibilities than in cheap and arbitrary limits of stylistic unity." Housed in a digipack, including a 12-page booklet with liner notes, scores and original documentation.

BRUHIN, ANTON: Rotomotor CD (TES 041CD)19.502001 release. The compact disc by Anton Bruhin issued by Alga Marghen is titled r o t o m o t o r and covers two different areas of the artist's research. The first one is represented by a group of works including the short and mysterious environmental recording "ORAX" as well as "Lange Tone," "VERSUCHPILZ 6," and "Paul Is 35," three excerpts from the epic "MC-10 zyklus" created between 1976 and 1977, recording various layers of sound sources on two cassette recorders with loudspeakers. The complete zyklus consists of 12 different episodes (each one 10 minutes long) which investigate the multi-layer ping-pong recording technique; the spatial illusion of the monoaural replay which moves away from the listener's ears into the depth of space. Far away sounds coming from a cosmic dimension or from an abyssal space, moving fore and back. The loss of sound quality considered as stoned space improvement. The title-track is a 28 minute-long reading of one of Bruhin's major works. Rotomotor is a poetic Idiotikon of the Swiss-German dialect where, instead of the straight alphabetical order, the words are organized according to the similarities of their letters (each word differs from the previous one by just one letter). For this reading, a delay is repeated in the signal after 0.6 seconds and each word is superimposed into the echo of the preceding one. On one hand this echo generates the rhythm of the performance, on the other it supports the acoustic metamorphosis of the words. Again, a very simple concept perfectly accomplished. What results from the whole program is maybe difficult to describe, and maybe more easily perceivable in a state of alternate consciousness. But surely, it is a quite unique sense of acoustic approach; so no surprise to see him mentioned in the mythical Nurse With Wound reference list.

QUARTETTO: Organic, Playco 1969 CD (TES 067CD)19.502008 release. The stable Quartetto that pianist Davide Mosconi, saxophonist Enzo Gardenghi, percussionist Marco Cristofolini, and cellist and violinist Gustavo Bonora brought to life beginning in the late '60s constituted the core of what would, in the early years of the next decade, become the larger improvising ensemble NADMA. The group was also an elegant and accomplished expression of the musical objectives of its members. This music expresses the rich yields that Davide Mosconi cultivated from his exploration of improvisation and the visionary creativity that revealed influences from parallel planes throughout his oeuvre, originated in his formative years. In the life story of Mosconi before the formation of the Quartetto, it emerges that his first musical affirmations arose as he was completing his studies as a photographer. Mosconi furthered his training as a photographer in New York from 1964-1968, including stints as assistant to Richard Avedon and Hiro. Prior to his definitive return to Italy, he spent 1968 in Mexico, a lengthy visit documented splendidly in his photographs. During his stay there, he may have been the first European musician to meet Conlon Nancarrow and encounter his music. From Nancarrow, Mosconi learned the workings of the Ampico player piano. Only much later indeed, in the early '80s, when György Ligeti championed his works, was this now-legendary American composer rediscovered internationally. The Quartetto represented, at last, a solid foundation with which Davide Mosconi succeeded in realizing his own notion of improvisation, aided by musicians who shared his ideal of a continuous, fluid music and thus of a pliable expression that superseded the limits of existential consciousness. In 1968-1969, the group launched an uninterrupted series of private events, studio sessions and live concerts at venues that ranged from offhand happenings to alternative clubs to concert halls. It is possible to reconstruct rather faithfully the activities of Davide Mosconi's Quartetto due to a vast amount of material documentation and a conspicuous number of archive recordings. The first recording sessions date from February 14, 1968, and from April of this same year, both made at the Playco studio in Milan and both featuring the lineup of Davide Mosconi, Marco Cristofolini and Enzo Gardenghi, with the additional presence of bassist Giorgio Buratti for the February recordings. The majority of these early Playco recordings, however, date from various months of 1969 until October, after the group solidified its roster with Gustavo Bonora. In several reel tapes dating back to this era, the collective name is often given not as Quartetto, but, alternately, as Organic or Organic Orchestra, designations that foreshadow the Natural Arkestra moniker later associated with NADMA. If one excludes the live recordings from the Auditorium San Fedele and Circolo Lepetit concerts of November and December 1969, the best evidence of the musical art of the Quartetto is found on the reel labeled Organic 1969 Playco, heard in its entirety on the present CD. Examination of the various tapes that document the Playco sessions of 1969 show that this reel is the only one with any consistent identification of the titles of individual tracks, as well as the only one to show signs of careful editing, perhaps intended use as a "demo." There are tracks that focus concretely on timbral resources and instrumental gesture and pieces that have decidedly parodistic moments. At least two classics of the Quartetto playlist are also to be found: the opener "Fattoria degli animali"and "Pugno chiuso," the last of the pieces to be recorded and the one which Gustavo Bonora later called the purest emblem of the musical art of the Quartetto. The album's sign-off does not stem from the same sessions. It is instead an edited extract from the Circolo Lepetit concert of December 1, 1969, and as such is a most effective taste of the informal and symbiotic potency that distinguished the live Quartetto experience: the merging of individual instruments into a unified whole. This CD is included in a beautiful digipack full-color sleeve with photos and liner notes. Also included is a 12-page booklet with an essay titled "Before NADMA: Davide Mosconi and the Quartetto" by Gabriele Bonomo as well as testimonies by Enzo Gardenghi and Gustavo Bonora.

ANOTHERDAY (UK)

MOON MAN (BOO WILLIAMS): Lucky Star Ship 12" (AD 002EP)12.50Anotherday return with their second release, from Chicago legend Boo Williams under his Moon Man alias. Originally released in 1996 on Cajual subsidiary Daisy, the original pressing of the Lucky Star Ship EP has been selling on Discogs for ?45+ due to its incredibly limited original pressing. Grab it now, pressed on beautiful virgin vinyl, fully remastered from the original DAT.

APERTURE (UK)

OBERMAN KNOCKS/AUTECHRE: Dilankex EP 12" (AP 006LTD-EP)21.00500 copy-only limited edition vinyl 12" featuring a 17-minute mix by Autechre. "Dilankex" is a work of opposites -- two versions of the same multiple events -- a black and white release. Oberman Knock's original version (white) is a laid-back affair housed within a glassy place of worship, echoing with monastic vocals, strings, wind instruments and field recordings which are offset by synthetic beats, funk bass and entwined sleazy vocals. In contrast, Autechre's remix (black) is a frantic, fractured and detailed piece that unravels and mutates into what is an unmistakable Autechre crescendo. Emotional machine music with guts and vigor.

BEDROOM COMMUNITY (ICELAND)

FROST, BEN: By The Throat LP (HVALUR 006LP)21.002014 repress, LP version. This is Reykjavik-based composer/producer Ben Frost's second release for the Icelandic Bedroom Community label. By The Throat is blood red and cloaked in shadow. Produced in Iceland by Ben Frost and Valgeir Sigurðsson (Björk, CocoRosie, Bonnie "Prince" Billy), this album features performances by Amiina of Sigur Rós fame, Arcade Fire's Jeremy Gara, Swedish metal outfit Crowpath and composer Nico Muhly. Aside from the purely musical language of harmony and melody, there's the level of musique concrète, the weaving of nonmusical sounds into the musical fabric. Borgar Magnason's menacing double bass growls pure bestial noise throughout and the brass choirs of "Peter Venkman" are recorded so closely that they almost transform into pure human breath. And just as these voices slide away from "notes" and "harmony" to become concrete sound-images, the meanings of these images rattle around and collide into each other, forming a whole language all its own. With spot varnish lettering on the front and back covers and a full-color insert, the packaging of this LP looks and feels enormously better than actual human social interaction.

BLACK ACRE (UK)

CLAP! CLAP!: Tambacounda EP 12" (ACRE 046EP)12.50Clap! Clap! is longtime jazz player Cristiano Crisci, also known in electronic circles as Digi G'Alessio. With cross genre accolades and support spanning the globe, he is already established as one of Italy's brightest talents, with supporters including Annie Mac, Diplo, Toddla T, and Skream. Here in full, chopped-up Afro-future mode, he fuses the hiss-crackle and fuzz of heavy tribal sampling with broad stroke drum programming. The fluidity of time signatures and deft, jazz-minded drumming gives the Tambacounda EP a woozy and hallucinogenic feel, tracks travelling from deep jungle drama to carnival ecstasy.

DEADBEAT AND PAUL ST HILAIRE: The Infinity Dub Sessions CD (BLKRTZ 008CD)17.00Deadbeat. Tikiman. Infinity. Dub. A quadrangle of such obvious statement and perfect musical inference may very well never have been uttered for those of the wholly weeded-out persuasion. Indeed, when the great book of dub music is written, the names Scott Monteith and Paul St. Hilaire will undoubtedly figure highly in its chapters devoted to recent years. Monteith, the last great prodigal son of the doctrine handed down from the Blue Mount of Lord Scratch and King Tubby, St. Hilaire the undisputed voice of a generation, those fanatical warrior monks, followers of the most Holy House of Ernestus and Von Oswald incarnate. Having developed a fast friendship from their very first meeting in Montreal at the premier Micro Mutek event a decade ago, Deadbeat and Tikiman's occasional collaborative performances have since blown the minds of audiences from Berlin to Tokyo and many points in between. No great surprise then that their first album-length venture is a tour de force of dub music of the highest order. Nearly a year in the making, the genetic code of Deadbeat's Infinity Dubs series gets shot through with a dreader-than-dread Kingstonian logic, hi-hats dropping back from the three to the one, Tikiman at his most militant, poetic, fierce, and flowing. These are the recordings of two lions uncaged, and none who bear witness shall escape their fiery judgment. If music is truly eternal, here be two voices which shall echo in infinity with all the weight, reverence, and dire power unleashed with every tectonic bass hit, and every whimsical turn of phrase. And if these eight burnt offerings are any indication of what happens when these two sit down for a session of smoke and reasoning, here's hoping they choose to do it frequently. Dub without end. Ad infinitum.

MOEBIUS/NEUMEIER/ENGLER: Other Places LP (BB 153LP)21.00LP version. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl. "Improvisation was and still is the magic word in jazz and live electronica. Transforming spontaneous ideas in real time, listening and reacting immediately to one another -- these are the signs of truly vibrant collaboration. If the musicians can also master the tightrope between artistic freedom, discipline and virtuosity, then nothing else can really go wrong. The session is destined for success. Other Places was recorded and mixed in four days. Three musicians: Dieter Moebius, Mani Neumeier and Jürgen Engler, and sound engineer Chris Lietz, their hearts and souls beating as one -- as they must have done for them to score a bull's eye like this. All the more remarkable, considering how different their musical backgrounds were. The unusual pulse of the music is a combination of synthetic rhythm patterns and Mani Neumeier's dexterous drumming. This interaction alone is enough to spark an almost magical, ritual atmosphere. But there is more: Moebius and Engler develop a fascinating electronic world on this rhythmic film, cacophonous on the one hand, harmonious on the other. Sonic spectra which swathe the listener in shimmering clouds and coruscating crystals. 'Our aim is to create an atmosphere,' as it says in the liner notes of the original 1996 release. And what an atmosphere! Dark, but not murky, outlandish without being weird. Other Places is a terror-free secret, an aural experience par excellence, one that melts in your mouth. Let us remind ourselves once again: this is improvised music, created in real time. Four days of genuine inspiration." --Asmus Tietchens

MOEBIUS/NEUMEIER/ENGLER: Another Other Places LP+CD (BB 154LP)22.00LP version. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Includes a CD copy of the album. "17 years after Other Places, a sophomore album from these innovative musicians. Dieter Moebius (Kluster, Cluster, Harmonia), Mani Neumeier (Guru Guru) and Jürgen Engler (Male, Die Krupps) got back together to carry on exactly where they left off in the 1990s. The long break has done no harm to their latest music, on the contrary -- as is clearly audible -- it has taken them to another level. The way they react to each other as they improvise, the powerful, subtle rhythms and the use of digital sources, all the way to completely abstract sound collages, amount to a quantum leap as seldom heard in electronic pop music. Another Other Places does not reheat old recipes of success. Moebius, Neumeier and Engler create something new without straying from their distinct styles, nor do they pander to the zeitgeist. This album simply brings to fruition something which has been ripening in their musician personalities for a long while. And again, the result does not sound artificial nor too cerebral. Like its predecessor, Another Other Places is characterized by an effortless lightness without once sounding banal. No sign of dull routine, either, a potential pitfall for experienced musicians. Instead, the listener can delight in musical and sonic surprises minute by minute. There is no space in the eccentric triumvirate's cosmos for hand-me-down patterns or musical stencils. So, the album is an adventure, of course, which might be a little confusing at first, but if you are open to the journey, you will find yourself able to share the musicians' joy of discovery. Perhaps Moebius, Neumeier and Engler will record a third, even more adventurous album one day. Let's hope so." --Asmus Tietchens

SCHNITZLER, CONRAD: Congratulacion LP (BB 163LP)21.00LP version on 180 gram vinyl." Conrad Schnitzler is as unpredictable as he is true to himself. If this sounds paradoxical, he reconfirmed the assertion in 1987 with an album which posed many questions and offered few answers -- his music more extraordinary than ever. The indefatigable Schnitzler still leaves anyone listening to Congratulacion today rather baffled. Those well-acquainted with his music might search in vain for familiar landmarks. Instead, new and unexpected features can be heard, unlike anything in Schnitzler's previous works. The reason for the album's uniqueness lies in the technical advancements of electronic music-making. Schnitzler never shied away from any kind of innovation. On Gold (BB 150CD/LP) and Silver (BB 149CD/LP) he had masterfully deployed a new Palm synthesizer. Congratulacion saw Schnitzler introduce the Yamaha CX 5, a combination of digital and analog sound generation, lending the album its distinctive quality. This machine enabled him to program the most complex of rhythms and strange harmonies and, if necessary, completely unforeseen melodies. '21.8.86' (track 8), for example, could easily have been composed by his old Kluster colleague Hans-Joachim Roedelius. This must have given him, this oh-so rigorous concept artist, no end of pleasure. Why else would he have composed 22 short pieces with the aid of the CX 5 instead of fewer, lengthier tracks?" --Asmus Tietchens; Features six bonus tracks and an essay by Asmus Tietchens.

COCOON (GERMANY)

RAR: Hool EP 12" (COR 114EP)14.00RAR is the current project joint of Rampa and Re.You. 2013 saw RAR's first work for Cocoon Recordings with their Cocoon Compilation L contribution "Yeah Yeah Yeah," (feat. Meggy) which turned into a heavy club-hit. Their new Cocoon Recordings release features three Berlin morning-flavored minimal house tunes. Imagine yourself on a Sunday morning at 7am in the Panoramabar and Ricardo Villalobos drops "Do We" by RAR. If you were ever a witness to one of these nights and wish to get back there, here's your soundtrack to do so.

CULTURES OF SOUL RECORDS

VA: Bombay Disco: Disco Hits From Hindi Films 1979-1985 CD (COS 008CD)16.00"The sound of Disco rose out of Philadelphia in the '70's before being nurtured in New York and later rising to the top of the pops. By 1979 it made its way to India, where it was blended with sitars, tablas and huge orchestras in a wildly inventive, and often boldly surreal, fusion of Purab aur Pachhim (East and West). When a film producer told Bollywood composer Bappi Lahiri, 'I want to have music like 'Saturday Night Fever', Bombay Disco was born. Soon nearly every South Asian film, it seemed, had a disco track blaring from cinema screens. Although disco's popularity waned in the west, it soared in the east throughout the '80's. Disco songs appeared in every type of film, from family dramas and historical epics to curry westerns and horror movies. Cultures Of Soul Records presents Bombay Disco, 13 selections excavated from the dusty bazaars of India by DJ Brother Cleve. The hunt even brought him to Bappi Lahiri's home, where India's 'Disco King' regaled him with music and stories. Bombay Disco showcases the unique musical hybrid that is Bollywood filmi music. Don your leisure suit, puff a chillum, and get on the dancefloor."

BHOSLE, ASHA: Udi Baba/Koi Lutera 12" (COS 601EP)13.00"This special limited edition 12" is being released in conjunction with Cultures of Soul's compilation, Bombay Disco. Bombay Disco is the story of disco in Hindi films from 1979 to 1985 and features selections excavated from the dusty bazaars of India by DJ Brother Cleve. Disco songs appeared in every type of film, from family dramas and historical epics to curry westerns and horror movies. Bombay Disco showcases the unique musical hybrid that is Bollywood film music. This 12" features one bonus track not found on the compilation and one track re-edited by Brother Cleve. Cleve masterfully re-edits the track 'Udi Baba' by Asha Bhosle adding to the already stellar production and synth programming to make it ripe for dance floors everywhere. The B-side also features the great voice of Asha Bhosle with the track 'Koi Lutera.'"

CURTOM

BABY HUEY: The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend (Colored Vinyl) LP (CRS 8007CLP)13.00Limited red-colored vinyl version. Gatefold exact repro reissue manufactured by Rhino. Originally released in 1971. Baby Huey was a psychedelic soul legend as well as an enormous (sorry) influence on hip hop, having been sampled by the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, Ghostface Killah and many more. Includes the classics "Hard Times" (Curtis Mayfield) and "A Change Is Gonna Come" (Sam Cooke) and the best rendition of The Mamas & The Papas' "California Dreamin'" ever made.

DESOLAT (GERMANY)

VA: Desolat X-Sampler 2x12" (DESOLAT 030LP)20.00Following up from 2013's critically-acclaimed 5 Years Desolat (DESOLAT 025LP), the label has once again compiled a collection of scintillating productions from an exciting pool of talent that together accurately represent the future direction of the label. It witnesses a focus on both new and established artists that are fast becoming associated with the imprint. 2013 was another successful year for the Desolat camp. Its impressive release schedule included the likes of Jerome Sydenham, Mathias Kaden, Butch, Pulshar, Francisco Allendes, Tiger Stripes and label co-founder Martin Buttrich, alongside Mousse T. And Desolat 030 signals that the coming 12 months are going to be exciting as ever. First up are a couple of artists who are now firmly part of the Desolat set-up. Robert Dietz has established himself as one of the most exciting new talents on the house and techno circuit and his "You're So Hood" is a snapshot of his intricate and pumping style that has seen him become a favorite on dancefloors. The other Desolat regular is Hector, who brings a dark and brooding production in "Make a Move" that is sure to entice DJs and music aficionados from across the house and techno spectrum. Returning to the fold after previous releases on Desolat are a number of artists at different stages of their careers. Shlomi Aber continues to deliver the goods on Desolat with "Mind Tribus," following his Rough Steps EP and his track "Mancha" on 2013's sampler. House legend Eddie Fowlkes debuts on Desolat with an ethereal, bubbly cut in "I'm Telling You." The track delivers warmth and groove in equal amounts. Circus ringmaster Yousef has teamed up with Blakkat and delivered a polished, warbling anthem in "Analogue Times." Argy also debuts with "Closer Than Most" and NY legend Joeski also joins the party with a subtle and inviting track in "Beware of the Drum," while Anthea dives deep with "Booty Call." As ever, the sampler provides an all-encompassing demonstration of what Deoslat is about. On offer is a wide selection of styles that all represent what the respective artist is about musically, but of course, the consistent Desolat musical thread runs through all the productions. The 2x12" comes with an mp3 download code that gives access to four more tracks from Danny Ocean, Carlo Lio, Bimas, and Marco Faraone.

DESSOUS (GERMANY)

ANDRADE: Madness EP 12" (DES 119EP)14.00French producer/DJ Oliver Andrade returns to Dessous with his EP Madness. "Egregius" evokes classic deep house from the U.S. Midwest, while never being defined by its influence. Synths bubble to the surface, pads wash over the raw and funky drum track, and a looped vocal ties the whole piece together. "Madness" treads a similar path, but with a slightly tougher vibe. "Bac a Sable" shakes things up with an unsettling rhythm that works its way into an infectious driving groove, accentuated by jarring synths.

DIRT CREW (GERMANY)

DETROIT SWINDLE: Boxed Out 2LP (DIRT 006LP)26.50Double LP version. Housed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve and pressed on white vinyl. Dirt Crew presents a the debut album from Detroit Swindle aka Lars Dales and Maarten Smeets. Their tremendous rise in the house scene was noted in DJ Mag's "Making a splash in 2013" section and from there it just went off. They have been laying it down across the UK, Ireland and the European mainland every weekend for the past two years, gaining much respect with both their DJ and Live sets. 2014 is going to be even busier, with tours planned in the USA, Australia, Asia and South Africa, where they have an exceptionally large fan base. After some very successful EPs on Freerange, Tsuba, their own label Heist and of course Dirt Crew Recordings, plus numerous remixes on labels like Greco Roman, Club Mod, Jalapeno and Room With A View, Dirt Crew felt that now is the time for the Detroit Swindle debut album. So here it is: a 13-track symphony of DS flavors. It has everything you would expect from the Swindles, some slow-burners with a hint of disco, some deep house, some banging club monsters and hey, even some leftfield hip-hop jams. The album opens with "B.Y.O.," a track that balances nicely between the DS shuffle and an old school New York-style block party. The track is a taste of things to come for the rest of the album, hinting towards a big party vibe, but mellow enough to make it a really interesting listen. The one thing Detroit Swindle are known for best is their knack for picking the right vocals. For Boxed Out, they came up with some perfect partnerships. They recorded "64 Ways" with none other than one of America's finest soul singers: Mayer Hawthorne. The track has a lazy shuffle, a bunch of catchy Rhodes chords and a few well-placed layers of synths that give this track a hint of "Detroit Experiment," wrapped up in an almost poppy house jam. One of the other vocal tracks is "Thoughts of She," that effortlessly samples the voice of UK soul singer Alice Russell from the track "Pushing On" by The Quantic Soul Orchestra. There's also the gorgeous track "Center of Gravity" that has Berlin-based, Ghanese-Canadian soul singer Sandra Amarie on vocals. It's particularly this track that reflects the true spirit of Detroit Swindle's music, a mixture of soul and UK garage meets Detroit house slowed down to a sexy groove with some of their trademark pads and stabs. They pushed themselves to explore different tempos as well, which not only resulted in some slow house burners, but also in two hip-hop tracks. "For the Love of..." is a homage to the old school sounds of J. Dilla, A Tribe Called Quest and The Pharcyde, combining off-beat shuffles, a gritty bass line and a warm cut-up soul sample. "You, Me, Here, Now" is almost a love song, disguised in a s(w)ing-a-long downtempo type of track. "Huh, What!," "Shotgun," "The Fat Rat" and "He's Just This Guy, You Know?" are all relentless dancefloor monsters, pushing the tempo to match old school Chicago and New York house cuts from the late '80s and early '90s. The album has a little bit of everything in exactly the right dose, making it both a good listen, and an extremely infectious club album.

DOWNTOWN PARTY NETWORK: In The Air/Call On Me 10" (DIRT 077EP)12.50Dirt Crew presents a very special 10" release from Lithuanian space disco masters Downtown Party Network The A-side track "In the Air" is a glorious, ecstatic dancefloor burner with its fragile female vocal sample and funky bass line. The B-side features the darker and more electroid "Call on Me," that could easily be taken from a mid-80s cosmic album. It has this laid-back Italo groove and long, stretching pads and chords that just put you under a spell. The reverbs and space-like bendings in this track are very haunting.

DOL (RUSSIAN FEDERATION)

WATERS, MUDDY: Muddy Waters Sings ''Big Bill'' LP (DOL 1444LP)20.00Muddy Waters' tribute to Chicago blues legend Big Bill Broonzy, originally released on Chess in 1960. "... the first time Waters and his band were recorded in stereo, the highlights include high voltage takes on 'When I Get to Drinkin'' and 'The Mopper's Blues,' with some really great harp from James Cotton as an added bonus." --All Music

SMOG: The Doctor Came At Dawn LP (DC 095LP)13.502014 repress. Smog's fifth album, originally released in 1996. Engineered by Jim O'Rourke. Introspective, gloomy, intimate, and so on... The greatest break-up record of all time. "Life a boy riding a cow through a candy store." -- M.T. Kinney, Willamette Week

SMOG: Red Apple Falls LP (DC 116LP)15.002014 repress, originally released in 1997. The sixth Smog album, and the first one produced by Jim O'Rourke. Tracks include the single "Ex-Con" and "I Was A Stranger," later covered by Cat Power. "Like Wild Love and Knock Knock, Red Apple Falls represents the more elaborate side of Bill Callahan's discography. His outsider/loser image is still perfectly intact, but it is shaped here with a more expansive sonic palette. Everything from French horn and pedal steel to hurdy gurdy is employed on these unassumingly poetic tales of self-loathing. There's a larger cast than usual at work here, and the denser musical texture may be the reason Callahan's lyrical self-deprecation seems more like an artistic device than a desperate cry in the wilderness. The use of more natural, organic imagery in the songs, however, adds an extra level of depth to the subtle, carefully constructed."

SMOG: Knock Knock LP (DC 161LP)13.502014 repress. LP version. "The only thing familiar about Knock Knock is the now familiar Smog sensation of being somehow completely unfamiliar! At this point in his illustrious career, there certain styles he feels comfortable with. But who'd've guessed that super-sexy space cowboy would be one of them? Several ballads on Knock Knock are of the spirit of Bill Callahan...a record with a divide of hard and soft ones, a record with a torn curtain inviting you to look inside. It is a real-life opera, a story told in song -- the story of a kid named Smog. A real tour de force."

DEATH: ...For The Whole World To See LP (DC 387LP)15.002014 repress; LP version. "Their time in the studio was overseen by engineer Jim Vitti, whose work with Parliament/ Funkadelic seems to have informed his decision to record Death in raw fashion with little polish, showcasing the organic power relationships within the trio. The songs recorded there make up ...For the Whole World to See, which today blasts from the speakers as a fresh and inspired early entry in the category of punk rock. Death had a single pressed, Politicians In My Eyes b/w Keep On Knocking, selling them at their shows and on the street. Things weren't really going anywhere when they heard from Columbia Records' president Clive Davis. He was interested, but he had one demand -- they'd have to change their name. David, acting as the band's leader, would have no part of it, a decision that ultimately brought an end to Death. Moving to New England, David, Bobby and Dannis reconnected with their faith, forming the Christian rock-n-roll band The 4th Movement, whose self-released early-80s album joined Death's 45 as a sought-after obscurity for the next generation. 2009 is the time that Death is finally here ...For The Whole World to See. ...For The Whole World to See is the first full-length release EVER for the band called Death -- with only one 7" single to their name, and that usually goes for about a grand per. That's $1000! For those who do have the single, the remastered sound here will break you up."

KAUFMAN, ANDY: Andy and His Grandmother LP (DC 410LP)20.002014 repress; LP version. "Material never heard before, a skimming from 82 hours of micro-cassette tapes that Andy recorded during 1977- 79. Perhaps the best thing about Andy and His Grandmother is that it extends the body of work that Andy Kaufman pursued relentlessly between 1971 and 1984 with 'routines' never before seen or heard in any of his known performances. This is no recap or greatest hits collection derived from material meant to be seen as well as heard. Andy created these tapes to format his incredible approach on a purely sonic level. The funny to be found in the unfunny, the comedy of everyday existence, the comedy of tragedy, these things are the legacy of Andy Kaufman -- and all are vividly on display throughout Andy and His Grandmother."

DEATH: Spiritual-Mental-Physical LP (DC 447LP)15.002014 repress. LP version. "Spiritual-Mental-Physical is a collection of wild early Death demos, presenting the three young Hackney brothers consolidating their powers as they embark on a trip into pure rock and roll music...an inside look at Death's early days, one that fans of the group and fans of punk rock (and, indeed, rock of all kinds) are sure to enjoy for the rest of time."

EDITIONS MEGO (AUSTRIA)

JAEGER, KASSEL: Toxic Cosmopolitanism LP (EMEGO 183LP)20.00Kassel Jaeger is a Swiss-French artist based in Paris, France, and is a member of the GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales). Toxic Cosmopolitanism is his second full-length release for Editions Mego -- a release which explores and questions the very nature of the material experiments contained within. Each side consists of two clearly-defined sections based on the same material. Side A comprises of "Toxic Cosmopolitanism," a large-scale work based on distinct sounds of different cultures, instruments such as the balafon, tremolo, gnbri, gee, Tibetan gongs, pan flutes and the like are all deployed but rendered of the sonic properties identifying them to a specific region. The question that lies at the heart of this experiment: is such a swirl a creative process or a destructive one -- this is the ambiguity of toxic cosmopolitanism. "Exposure Scales 1-4" use sounds exclusively derived from the "Toxic Cosmopolitanism" material. Whereas "TC" is more about subjecting sounds to structure, "Exposure Scales" builds almost static textures. The results are an honest exploration of both culture and form. At once cerebral, enlightening and immensely rich in scope and sonic vision.

MOVE D: Fabric 74 CD (FABRIC 147CD)16.00David Moufang is an unassuming heavyweight in house music, as a producer for countless forward-thinking labels, a collaborator and a truly original selector. On Fabric 74, Move D has created a master-class in emotive selections, which displays the length and breadth of what deep house is and can be, and does so in a way that manages to be both slick and dynamic. Magic, as ever, from Move D. Artists include: Roy Davis Jr., Liz Torres, Liberty City, M.ono, Jamie Trench & Angus Jefford, Earl Jeffers, Darkman, MD III, Dom 877, Juju & Jordash, Christo, Last Magpie, Move D/D-Man, Willow, Smallpeople & Rau.

FANIA RECORDS

VALENTIN, BOBBY: Bad Breath LP (SLP 335LP)12.00Exact repro of Bobby Valentin's third album, his second on Fania, originally released in 1966. His early material, including the tracks "Zip Zap" and "Barengue Marengue."

FEEDING TUBE RECORDS

HURRICANES OF LOVE: Quintorian Blues 2LP (FTR 139LP)25.50"When Frank Hurricane comes into a room, it's really something. As his name implies, he is impossible to ignore. He has built an alarmingly nuanced lexicon out of an amazingly limited number of phrases. 'Psychedelic.' 'Spiritual.' 'Holy.' 'Gangsta.' 'Pimp.' 'Bro.' 'Homie.' In the hands of the culture-at-large, these terms have long lost whatever literal or subcultural meaning they may have once had and are now so incredibly overused as to be stripped of any meaning whatsoever. In Frank's hands, though, each of these words comes alive and full of varied meaning. On paper here it looks ridiculous, but in the throat of Frank Hurricane they breathe and dance in indescribable ways. There is no way to experience Hurricanes Of Love, Frank's acoustic guitar-based musical project, without surrendering to his singular and indescribable charm. His pleasant picking gives way to manic strumming, stuttering and unpredictable motifs or, hopefully, incredibly meandering verbal introductions. Frank is a wild and singular story-teller, often providing rambling preambles during his live sets that can out-last the songs themselves. Side three of this LP is called 'Holy Story,' and ostensibly does nothing more than provide Frank with a platform for introducing his next song, 'Moose Lake Blues.' What actually happens, though, is that where most people would simply say 'I wrote this next song on tour,' Frank stretches out, providing tributaries of backstory. We meet all kinds of characters, all presented through Frank's strange lens, and it's a treat. It's just as tempting to put Frank in a You Can't Win-style hobo camp as it is to make sense of him as a post-Tim And Eric product of the psych-folk/noise-tape boom, but these sorts of categories invariably break down when confronted with actual life, and Quintorian Blues is nothing else if not a report back from Frank's actual life. You can't throw a roach clip out the driver's-side window these days without hitting a finger-picking guitarist, but you can't throw a star across the galaxy and hit anything like Frank Hurricane, and with those odds, how can you refuse?" --Matt Krefting, Easthampton, MA, 2014

CLOUD BECOMES YOUR HAND: Rocks or Cakes LP (FTR 148LP)16.50First vinyl (the CDs on New York's Northern Spy) by this willfully eclectic Brooklyn quintet. It's never clear if they're aware of it or not, but much of Cloud Becomes Your Hand's sound swings with the same way-off-center lope that marks the most enjoyable (as opposed to brittle) work of the Canterbury/RIO continuum. There are even textural similarities to some of the post-Zeuhl French chamber-prog bands of the last century, especially when the violin and synthesizer combine to set the scene. But there's a humorous (or loopily surreal) edge to the material that could never be comprehended by that po-faced lot. It's odd to hear an underground prog band these days that neither references Krautrock, nor sounds dour as a bloody stool, but CBYH pull the trick off with aplomb. The tracks are compact, but move around with the same antic charm of The Residents or Renaldo and the Loaf, managing to toss in small details that recall the berserk melodies Roy Shield wrote for Hal Roach's Little Rascals films. One keeps listening for a "tell" -- something that will definitively tie the band to 21st century Brooklyn, but it's not forthcoming. Rocks or Cakes isn't easily taggable within either time or space. The music is a complex, engaging and very cool-sounding puzzle by a band that shifts gears with remarkable precision and tightness. They totally pull all this off in live performance, as well, which is something that's not common. So catch them live if you can, and buy this record fast or you'll have to listen to it on CD, which just wouldn't be the same.

FULL PUPP (NORWAY)

VA: Full Pupp Sampler 1 12" (FP 040EP)14.00Part one of Full Pupp's four-part sampler series: a 10-year Full Pupp compilation. Each 12" has four brand-new exclusive tracks. Norway's finest young adults. Coast to coast, out of the cold, hot as hell. Sampler 1 features Jarle Brathen, Casiokids, Erik Skantze and Marius Vareid.

VA: Full Pupp Sampler 2 12" (FP 041EP)14.00Part two of Full Pupp's four-part sampler series: a 10-year Full Pupp compilation. Each 12" has four brand new, exclusive tracks. Norway's finest young adults. Coast to coast, out of the cold, hot as hell. Sampler 2 features Andre Bratten, Blackbelt Andersen, Randaberg Ego Ensemble, and Mental Overdrive. Includes a remix by Prins Thomas.

VA: Full Pupp Sampler 3 12" (FP 042EP)14.00Part three of Full Pupp's four-part sampler series: a 10-year Full Pupp compilation. Each 12" has four brand new exclusive tracks. Norway's finest young adults. Coast to coast, out of the cold, hot as hell. Sampler 3 features Skateboard, Oyvind Morken, Prins Thomas, and Jarle Brathen. Also features a remix by Omar V.

VA: Full Pupp Sampler 4 12" (FP 043EP)14.00Part four of Full Pupp's four-part sampler series: a 10-year Full Pupp compilation. Each 12" has four brand-new exclusive tracks. Norway's finest young adults. Coast to coast, out of the cold, hot as hell. Sampler 4 features Lindstrøm, Ytre Rymden Dansskola, Magnus International, and Tarjei & Are.

GET ON DOWN

BLACK SHEEP: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing 2LP (GET 54066LP)26.00"Get on Down is proud to present A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, the debut album by Black Sheep, available for the first time ever as double vinyl release. On the initial release of this classic it was 'The Choice Is Yours' that blew the roof off with even the most of novice rap fans gravitating to the song's energy. The cut has gone on to be featured in a long list of films and commercials (including the KIA campaign with the hip hop hamsters). Singles like 'The Choice Is Yours' and 'Flavor of the Month' made a perfect landing strip for those to delve deeper into the duo's debut. Often humorous ('Strobelite Honey'), often serious ('Black with No N.V (No Vision)', Black Sheep were able to craft an album that displayed their witty sensibilities while also staying conscious in true Native Tongue form. From the moment the album starts with Prince Paul introducing the 'lowlifes of the family tree' you know you are in for something special and different. Mista Lawnge's production is every bit as textured as fellow counter parts Tribe or De La, while standing out as being completely original and fresh. Tracks like 'Butt in the Meantime', 'Try Counting Sheep' and 'La Menage (Featuring Q Tip)' are great examples of the duo's original style - complex layered beats (everything from Jazz, Soul and Rock all meshed together perfectly) to compliment Dres' distinct voice and word play. With other standout album cuts like 'For Those That Slept' and 'To Who It May Concern' it seemed as if they had an endless bag of treats, each offering something different while preserving the groups style."

GSF RECORDS

QUARTERMAN & FREE SOUL, SIR JOE: Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul LP (GSF 1009LP)11.502014 repress. Exact repro of the sole album from Joe Quarterman, originally released in 1973. Socially conscious funk, featuring tracks "(I Got) So Much Trouble In My Mind," "I Made A Promise," "The Trouble With The Trouble," "The Way They Do My Life," "Find Yourself," "Gonna Get Me A Friend," "Give Me Back My Freedom," "I Feel Like This" and "Live Now Brothers."

HONEST JON'S RECORDS (UK)

ACTRESS: R.I.P. 2LP (HJR 060LP)20.002014 repress; 2LP version. South London producer Darren Cunningham returns with a suite of electronic laments, tone structures and dream-time rhythms which all carry his unmistakable fingerprint. R.I.P. comprises 15 tracks painstakingly crafted by Cunningham in his London studio over recent years, with a conceptual arc taking in death, life, sleep and religion.

KISMET (UK)

CREEPY JOHN THOMAS: Creepy John Thomas CD (KIS 4044CD)17.00Creepy John Thomas was an alias for Australian singer-guitarist Johnny Driver, who had enjoyed considerable success back home with The Flies, even supporting The Rolling Stones. Recorded by the legendary Conny Plank and released in late 1969, this terrific album combines psychedelic rock, blues and folk to spellbinding effect, and makes its long-awaited return to CD here.

GANIMIAN & HIS ORIENTAL MUSIC: Come with Me to the Casbah CD (KIS 4045CD)17.00Originally released in the summer of 1959, this remarkable album was one of the first to fuse Middle Eastern and Western instrumentation. Led by Armenian-American oud virtuoso Charles "Chick" Ganimian, the band tear through a collection of standards and originals that touch on what they termed "Oriental rock'n'roll," anticipating the work of John Berberian, The Orient Express, The Devil's Anvil, and others. Includes background notes.

KRANKY

VANTZOU, CHRISTINA: No. 2 LP (KRANK 186LP)14.00LP version. "Developed over a four year period, and entirely funded by a part time job working as a SAT university entrance exam mathematics tutor, No. 2 was composed using synthesizers and a variety of unidentified samples that were manipulated beyond recognition. Christina Vantzou then collaborated with Minna Choi of the San Francisco based Magik*Magik Orchestra. Vantzou and Choi worked on the notation and arrangements and recorded the compositions with a 15-piece ensemble at Tiny Telephone studios in San Francisco. The chamber layer on No. 2 follows a similar pattern as her first record with the addition of bassoon, oboe, and an enhanced string section. Vantzou spent four months premixing the album before Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid/A Winged Victory for the Sullen) engineered the final mixes, as well as added some of his signature sound texture, at his studio in Brussels, Belgium. Perhaps a better title for the album would be Symphony No. 2 as it was composed as a cohesive whole, much like her first album No. 1. Dense layers of strings are augmented by angelic voices, piano, woodwinds, and various synthesizers. Instrumental music, especially that which is scored with strings and horns, is invariably described as filmic. This is even more likely when the composer is a filmmaker such as Christina Vantzou. Welcome to the future, which luckily for us is filled by a woman's voice with a beautiful narrative. A recording that is a meeting of personalities is like the contact of chemical substances: if there is any reaction, all are transformed."

LIGHT IN THE ATTIC

CHARLES, BOBBY: Bobby Charles LP (LITA 111LP)23.00"Bobby Charles pioneered the musical genre known as 'swamp rock' -- he wrote the early rock n roll classic 'See You Later, Alligator' (best known via the version by Bill Haley & the Comets). Another early gem penned by Bobby Charles was 'Walking to New Orleans' as recorded by Fats Domino. He also appeared at the legendary 'Last Waltz' concert in 1976 -- in which he performed 'Down South in New Orleans' accompanied by The Band and Dr. John. But the main reason that musicians like Andy Cabic of Vetiver sing his praises (and cover his songs) is for Bobby's 1972 self-titled album released on Bearsville. Despite numerous CD reissues through the years, this is the first time in decades that the seminal album has appeared in its original vinyl LP format. A virtual who's who of classic 'roots' rock -- the album features ten Bobby Charles classics supported by the likes of Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and Richard Manuel of The Band, long time Neil Young sidekick Ben Keith, Bob Dylan's former running mate Bob Neuwirth, session maverick Amos Garrett, the esteemed Dr. John, Geoff Muldaur and several others. But this is far from an all-star jam session -- this is an ensemble record in the truest sense of the word -- with each musician simply supporting the Louisiana vibe that flows thru the ten song collection of country, blues, R&B, and folk that all have that distinctive Bobby Charles signature sound. This album also includes the slow burner 'Street People' as featured on Country Funk 1969-1975, Volume 1. Perhaps Dr. John said it best: 'I think all of Bobby's songs have something to offer at all times, for all people.' Light in the Attic now offers Bobby Charles re-mastered from the original tapes, packaged in a beautiful gatefold sleeve, pressed on 180 gram vinyl, and waiting for heads to turn on and tune in 'round the globe."

FRANK, BOB: Bob Frank LP (LITA 112LP)20.00LP version. "Originally released in 1972 on Vanguard Records, Bob Frank's self titled debut album took elements of Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Ian Tyson and filtered it through a pot-smoked haze infused with Frank's long-time friend, Memphis guru Jim Dickinson. Dickinson and Frank shared a mutual admiration that ran so deep that on Dickinson's own 1972 debut album Dixie Fried (released on Atlantic Records) he recorded one of Bob's songs, 'Wild Bill Jones.' Despite the Dickinson/Memphis connection, Bob Frank's only LP for Vanguard has remained a forgotten, hard to find vinyl relic. Until now. Carefully re-mastered from the original tapes, historical maverick (and noted expert on the Memphis scene) Alec Palao recently interviewed Frank in detail and assembled a lengthy essay for the CD and LP liner notes that detail Frank's personal and musical journey. As Dickinson once deadpanned, 'Bob went to Vietnam and Nashville. I don't know which was worse.' It was also an itinerant period, when Frank spent many a stoned evening staggering alone through the mid-south urban gothic landscape of church steps and sleaze bars, with his guitar glued to his arm, if not an actual extension of it. Songs would emerge from dreams or drunken visions. But this was not artless acid folk, but a series of picaresque, well-sketched vignettes delivered in a clearly-enunciated vernacular, and all very much in Frank's own style. On these 1972 recordings, session men Charlie McCoy and Eric Weissberg (both known for their work with Bob Dylan via Blonde on Blonde and Blood on the Tracks, respectively) came along for the ride. Remastered from the original stereo 1/4" tapes. Housed in a gatefold tip-on jacket with liner notes."

WALKER, PETER: ''Second Poem to Karmela'' or Gypsies Are Important LP (LITA 113LP)20.00LP version. "Originally released in 1968 on Vanguard Records, Peter Walker's album 'Second Poem to Karmela' or Gypsies Are Important was a ground breaking blend of folk, raga, psychedelia, and Eastern and modal sounds that has remained unsung for decades. While his debut album for Vanguard, Rainy Day Raga, has been reissued several times on LP and CD, this album (his sophomore effort), remains an obscure and hard to find vinyl relic. Until now. Carefully re-mastered from the original tapes, guitar scholar Glenn Jones recently interviewed Peter Walker for hours and has written a book-deep essay for the CD and LP liner notes that detail Walker's association with an incredible cross-section of 1960s counter-culture icons including LSD guru Timothy Leary (Walker personally provided the soundtrack to many a trip), he studied raga music with Ali Akbar Khan, and like his close friend Sandy Bull, Walker worked on a fusion of Western and Eastern sounds. Jim Pepper plays flute on 'Second Poem' (he also recorded with The Fugs and Don Cherry), other accompaniment to Walker's guitar, sarod and sitar playing includes violin, organ, tablas, and tamboura. This is true acid folk as interesting, progressive, and memorable as fellow 1960s world travelers Robbie Basho, Davy Graham, and the Incredible String Band. Remastered from the original stereo ¼" tapes. Housed in a gatefold tip-on jacket with liner notes."

LITTLE AXE

OVERSTREET, REV. LOUIS: Blessings 7" (LA 003EP)7.00"Taken from Reverend Overstreet's privately released 45s. Raucous guitar work and great gospel energy from one of the most renowned guitar evangelists along with Utah Smith and Charlie Jackson. This record features 'Blessings' b/w 'Black But Proud'. Originally recorded in the 1970s and released in tiny runs on the Overstreet and Lodestone record labels."

ONE OF YOU: One of You LP (LA 009LP)15.00"A fascinating and unique collection of music by a Czech immigrant to Canada who wishes to remain anonymous. Side A contains tracks from 3 singles originally released on her own Scarab label in the early '80s, two under the name One of You and one credited to The Triffids. The One of You tracks are mournful and quietly intense, really something special. Mostly just organ and voice, they resemble a mix of outsider minimal Goth and a Czech-accented Nico, maybe. The instrumental Triffids tracks are slightly less spare, adding a touch of synth and percussion to the mix, and ending up a bit like low-key basement prog. Side B consists of Czech-language guitar-based demos recorded in the late '70s, and shows a bit more of an Eastern European folk-music influence, with occasional subtle folk-psych tinges and some spooky reverb. Amazing stuff."

PARIS, TI: Ti Paris et sa Guitare LP (LA 010LP)15.00"A true masterpiece by one of the legends of Haitian music. The debut album by Haiti's favorite troubadour reissued for the first time on vinyl. Beautiful guitar playing with the minimal rhythmic accompaniment of maracas. Haitian blues music at its best. Tip-on cover. Limited edition of 500 copies."

LITTLE BIG CHIEF RECORDS

FINN, SIMON: Pass the Distance LP (LBCR 011LP)21.00"First released in 1970. A British, dark-acid folk classic. Sounding like Tom Rapp on a horror trip, Finn sets out on a nightmarish journey that knows no appeasement. The mania shining through is greatly enhanced by the talent of multi-instumentalist David Toop, who plays several different songs simultaneously, seemingly without relation to the songs the other musicians are playing. Guitars appear in the wrong key, song structure is blissfully ignored. Originally released on Mushroom records. 500 copies, with liner notes by John Olson of Wolf Eyes/American Tapes."

M'LADY'S RECORDS

DEAD MOON: In the Graveyard CD (MLADYS 014CD)14.00"Available worldwide for the first time ever on compact disc, M'Lady's Records is extremely excited to announce the reissue of Dead Moon's debut album classic, In the Graveyard. Highly sought by rock 'n' roll maniacs around the globe for its breathtaking songwriting and attitude, it's also the first release in M'Lady's 2014 reissue series documenting many different timeless albums issued by Fred and Toody Cole (also of the Rats and Pierced Arrows). This record will not let you go once it's made its way into your mind: every song is a classic, almost intimidating in its poise and strength. For the uninitiated, Dead Moon come on almost like a hybrid of the most exciting elements of Love, AC/DC, the Weeds, and the Elevators. No joke. The group are also famous for operating extremely DIY, down to the recording and mastering of their albums (famously cut on the very same lathe that cut 'Louie Louie' by the Kingsmen)."

DEAD MOON: Unknown Passage CD (MLADYS 015CD)14.00"Available worldwide for the first time ever on compact disc, M'Lady's Records is extremely excited to announce the reissue of Dead Moon's classic album from 1989, Unknown Passage. Highly sought by rock 'n' roll maniacs around the globe for its breathtaking songwriting and attitude, it's also the second release in M'Lady's 2014 reissue series documenting different timeless albums issued by Fred and Toody Cole (also of the Rats and Pierced Arrows). This is the album that's got 'Dead Moon Night,' '54/40 or Fight,' and another half-dozen classics beloved by Dead Moon enthusiasts."

DEAD MOON: Defiance CD (MLADYS 016CD)14.00"Available worldwide for the first time ever on compact disc, M'Lady's is extremely excited to announce the reissue of Dead Moon's classic album from 1990, Defiance. Highly sought by rock 'n' roll maniacs around the globe for its breathtaking songwriting and attitude, it's also the third release in M'Lady's 2014 reissue series documenting many different timeless albums issued by Fred and Toody Cole (also of the Rats and Pierced Arrows). This is the album that's got 'Johnny's Got a Gun,' 'Dagger Moon,' 'Walking On My Grave,' 'Dagger Moon,' and another half-dozen classics beloved by Dead Moon enthusiasts."

MACRO RECORDINGS (GERMANY)

L'ESTASI DELL'ORO: Iscariotic Lips/Reverse & Repair 12" (MACROM 035EP)12.00New York's L'estasi Dell'oro has become quite a phenomenon on the vinyl underground through his releases for Voodoo Down and his own Flaneur Audio imprint. Iscariotic Lips/Reverse & Repair features multiple layers of noisy bits, shuffling time signatures around until you lose all orientation. This four-tracker was mixed by Stefan Goldmann, who clearly knows how to sculpt intricate distortion mischief while maintaining a slamming drum kit. Enter an acapella of "Iscariotic Lips" and a hefty "beats only" SG edit of "Reverse & Repair" and there's what 2014 can do for you.

MANNEQUIN RECORDS (GERMANY)

SPIRITUAL FRONT: Open Wounds LP (MNQ 043LP)20.00The Rome-based nihilist suicide pop outfit Spiritual Front returns with Open Wounds, a monolithic selection of re-arranged and re-mastered tracks from their back catalog. The band, formed in 1999 as a project fronted by Simone Salvatori, has been described as a cross of a wide variety of genres and musical styles, and the band itself is considered highly unique among the modern neo-folk and post-industrial scenes in Europe. Strongly recommended to fans of Ennio Morricone, Death In June, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Johnny Cash, Swans, and Crime & The City Solution.

POLICE DES MOEURS: Police des Moeurs LP (MNQ 044LP)20.00Police Des Moeurs is a synth-pop band formed in Montreal in 2010 and they give the francophone perspective on what Black Marble, Lust For Youth, and Cold Showers did in English in 2012, as well as fitting in with the output of Lescop. Members are Francis, Anouk, Fred and Cristine. Their debut full-length is permeated by a cold, melodic, and nostalgic music for broken hearts and dark minds. PDM is the soundtrack for the nuclear night, a transition moment between the end of utopia and the final ecological disaster. The world after the future. PDM's main influences and interests are underground aestheticisms (1979-1981), industrial transformations, and the process of electrification, norms and deviance, nuclear and environmental anxiety as well as paranoia, secret agents, spies and political extremists. Strongly recommended to fans of Rational Youth, New Order, Martin Dupont, Jacno, The Normal, and Xeno & Oaklander.

SIXTH JUNE: Pleasure 12" (MNQ 045EP)14.50Serbian duo Sixth June -- Laszlo Antal and Lidija Andonov -- come with a fresh new five-track EP. They play minimal, industrial, synthesized music, digging into the colder corners of the synthetic '80s for inspiration (Gary Numan, John Foxx, Depeche Mode). Laszlo produces obscure but expressive and danceable textures while Lidija takes shape in a wobbling atmosphere no one can escape. Lidija, apart from singing in Sixth June, is a professional actress. Laszlo, composer of all of the tracks, is an illustrator and music video director. Strongly recommended to fans of Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, Soft Metals, Xeno & Oaklander.

MEDICAL RECORDS

ROBOTNICK, ALEXANDER: Ce N'est Q'un Debut LP (MEDICAL 002LP)18.002014 repress, originally released in 2010. "Medical Records presents the second pressing of their second release (MR-002)! This mini-LP was originally released on Materiali Sonori in 1984 in Italy and is long out of print. The first pressing on Medical was released in 2010 and is also now long out of print. Alexander Robotnick (aka Maurizio Dami) is an Italian electronic musician. He made his debut on the Italian music scene as the founding member of Avida, a dance-cabaret band featuring Daniele Trambusti and Stefano Fuochi. In 1983 he attained international popularity with his track 'Problèmes d'amour', published first by the Italian label Materiali Sonori and then by Sire-Wea. 'Problèmes d'amour' went on to become a 'cult track' of the disco scene. It became quite an import hit in America's underground club scene, and sparked the mini-LP Ce N'est Qu'un Début that same year (originally released in Italy on Materiali Sonori in 1984 ). It consists of 6 captivating tracks including the hit 'Problèmes d'amour' as well as the track 'Dance Boy Dance,' which has appeared on other cult disco compilations. Ce N'est Qu'un Début will appeal to lovers of Italo disco, early new wave, and minimal pop. Presented on high-quality 180gram black vinyl."

GAY CAT PARK: Synthetic Woman LP (MEDICAL 012LP)18.002014 repress, now on clear vinyl. "As a monumental first time in the label's existence, Medical Records presents an LP of previously unreleased songs by an icon of Italo Disco and synthpop well known for their club-stomper 'I'm A Vocoder'. Gay Cat Park is an Italian duo consisting of Graziano G. Ravizza and Davide Gatti. At the tender age of 14 with an obsession for electronics and a dream, they crafted the hit 'I'm A Vocoder' that was released as a single on Discotto Records in 1982. Using very primitive toy-like keyboards modified to makeshift synthesizers early on, this masterpiece and floor-stomper was a success. Though they recorded many other records in the studio with other artists under a variety of different names in the more popular vein, there were sadly no further releases in the style of Gay Cat Park or under that moniker. Working behind the scenes on their limited equipment, they wrote and developed many other tracks that would be best described as the true Gay Cat Park 'sound'. These tracks were home-recorded and not considered 'commercial' enough in those times. Influenced heavily by Kraftwerk, Tomita, and Depeche Mode, Ravizza and Gatti layed these tracks down on standard UCXS Sony tapes or TEAC Tascam four tracks. These tracks have been unheard and stored until now. Medical Records took an interest in Gay Cat Park and requested to hear the potential early tracks. Needless to say, the tracks were astonishing and are presented now on this compilation of hand-picked tracks from that era. 8 tracks (including 'I'm A Vocoder') were culled and restored from the original cassette tapes by Gay Cat Park. All tracks were recorded from 1982-1984. On high-quality 160 gram clear vinyl."

ALOA: Aloa LP (MEDICAL 029LP)19.00"Medical Records presents a reissue of one of Germany's most interesting records. The German duo Aloa only made one album in 1982, but it is one of the most peculiar and innovative records of the Neue Deutsche Welle movement. Long out of print, somewhat obscure, and very expensive, this record is due for an official reissue. The duo consisting of Al Kanz and Matthias Brendel both grew up in Kassel, Germany. Though both had different tastes of music, they fused influences and injected them into their own unique blend when they purchased Roland 606 and 808 drum machines plus a Sequential Circuits Prophet 5. After much development and evolution, the Aloa project came to life. The album explores a whole spectrum of textures, moods, and atmospheres. Ranging from dark complex synthed-out tracks to diverse instrumentation-laced almost Krautrock motifs, this album is definitely one of a kind. From the commanding first track 'Weisser Wal' with it's almost Bryan Ferry style vocals to the atmospheric 'Banane Zitrone', the twists and turns are endless. This is a very sultry record as well evidenced by the band's constant obsession with sexy women who occupied their time. Definitely will appeal to fans of The Residents, Neue Deutsche Welle, and anything and everything that lives in the outer reaches of synth territory. Sadly the record was overlooked and misunderstood by the press and radio stations alike likely due to it's obvious unorthodox and experimental interpretation of synthpop. Restored and mastered from the original master tapes by Klearlight Studios in Dallas, TX. Presented on high-quality 180 gram heavyweight green vinyl. Features bonus LP insert with liner notes and interview by Dave Segal. Limited edition."

ROLADEX: Anthems For The Micro-Age LP (MEDICAL 031LP)19.00"Medical Records presents its second contemporary artist release with Roladex. Imagine Kraftwerk playing Steven Merritt songs. Roladex was formed in Texas by Tyler Jacobsen and Elyssa Dianne. Producer/Member, Tyler Jacobsen holds an MFA in Electronic Art and this becomes apparent as they find lyrical and musical inspiration through the films of David Cronenberg and John Carpenter, the works of authors such as J.G Ballard as well as video artists such as Vito Acconci and Nam June Paik. Jacobsen has been on a hiatus from his work as college art professor since the formation of the group. Using an arsenal of analog instruments, Roladex nostalgically borrows ideas from music of the past to carefully craft a unique brand of futuristic-mechanized pop, with an emphasis on songwriting and layered production. Weaving sparse, sequenced arpeggios into fuzzy bass and bubbly melodies to create a bed of sound where they layout a somehow bright melancholia. Part minimal synth-wave, part dream pop, Roladex fits nicely with other non-traditional pop acts such as Ariel Pink as well as Synth contemporaries like Police Des Moeurs and Black Marble. Presented on high-quality 180gram heavyweight electric blue transparent vinyl and features a bonus LP insert with lyrics. All tracks and versions recorded exclusively for this Medical release. Mastered by Martin Bowes at the Cage, UK. Limited edition."

MELODIC (UK)

HOWES: TD-W700/Leazes 12" (MELO 086EP)16.50Even in an age established on artists who don't feel the need to play instruments and creators who cut and paste, 19 year-old prodigy Howes already possesses a frightening amount of talent. With debut track "Asiko" already embedded across the blogging internet, his debut Melodic EP furthers on its vast promise. His is music of the mind; stylistically it takes root in the darker vespers of house music, its minimalist approach verging towards techno; but ultimately it acts as a sub-conscious portrayal of the editor's nature of his brain, their rhythms and nocturnal sounds the wholes of an underlying complex DNA matrix of mutated samples and beats.

L. PIERRE: Surface Noise 10" (MELO 087EP)12.50Following on your work as one of the twin pioneers of Glaswegian radge-rock in Arab Strap can't be an easy task. Aidan clearly has had other ideas, quite different ideas, and most of them comprise his solo project release via his alter ego, Lucky Pierre. In these recordings, L. Pierre pays an affectionate tribute to the wear and tear of overplayed vinyl; the hiss, scratch and pop of records long loved but worn down. It's the sound of survival, the echoes of a life lived well; moth-eaten music of resilience, of beauty and backbone.

VERT, GEORGES: An Electric Mind LP (MELO 088LP)20.00Melodic presents the debut solo album from Georges Vert. Georges Vert remembers precisely the moment that the unmistakable whirr of a Raymond Scott Electronium synth drifted through the bay windows of his dusty, manuscript-strewn Parisian apartment and, for the first time, into his ears. The very next day, he quit his job as a classical score transposer, where he'd worked since fleeing the sleepy Normandie town he'd grown up in, Gathemo. The day after, he landed a job composing synth parts for anyone and everyone. Some years later comes the culmination of a lifetime's obsession -- an inspired, riotous nu-electro record that transports you by the scruff of your neck to disco-era late-night loft parties, to the inside of Giorgio Moroder's head as he hallucinates a Los Angeles police shoot-out, to a future that hasn't happened yet, full of wonder and neon. Influenced by Air, as well as fellow Frenchmen Roger Roger, Nino Nardini and Bernard Fevre, and German Italo producers like Michael Cretu, the composer describes himself as "old enough to know better but really too young to die." Which is just as well, because an exciting future beckons following this long-overdue solo debut album. Like the man himself, it's an unpredictable listen -- its volatile side a reflection of a charismatic eccentric. These days he spends his time between London, Manchester and that same Paris apartment where it all began, carrying with him wherever he goes a Fender Jazz bass. Where he goes next, though, when this album lands in clubs and stereos this summer, one can only imagine.

PATTERNS: Waking Lines LP (MELO 089LP)20.00Melodic presents the eagerly-anticipated debut album from Patterns, a band marking themselves out as true scientists of songcraft. With its array of field recordings, samples, original compositions and an epic haze of spellbinding loops, sonic sparks are set to fly from this thoroughly modern shoegaze-pop record. Patterns' fusion of head and heart may well induce a dream-like state, but across Waking Lines' 10 tracks, every note has been constructed with meticulous focus. This is a band who've always known what they wanted to achieve -- a group who together and individually, have spent time honing their craft, not to mention their spectacularly colorful live performances into an entity that's indisputably Patterns. Made up of foursome Ciaran McAuley (vocals/guitar/keyboards), Alex Hillhouse (bass/samplers), Jamie Lynch (drums) and Laurence Radford (guitar/samplers), the band's unique approach is what has had DJs from Mary Anne Hobbs and BBC 6 music's Steve Lamacq foaming at the microphone. Upon hearing Patterns' equally glistening and smouldering wall of noise, Huw Stevens picked the band to perform at Swn Festival, Rob Da Bank chose them to play at Bestival, and there have been shows all over France and Spain, not to mention a scholarly hometown show amongst the book shelves of Manchester's John Rylands Library. Already Waking Lines has been a long time coming, but it's been well worth the wait. Complemented by an array of psychedelic visuals, Patterns' knack for transcending both time and space can transform even the dingiest back room of a pub into a star-filled galaxy with an array of shimmering, delicately-melded guitars and evocative electronica. Take recent single "Blood," which was mainly inspired by the band's fascination with aesthetics and VHS equipment. Abandoning normal recording techniques and expensive producers, the band opted instead to record the album themselves. With one good microphone and a laptop, they have managed to create an infinitely large imaginary space to express their vision. From "This Haze," which was written eschewing male "indie" singer conventions by thinking of how a woman might sound had she sang instead, right through to "Our Ego," a song about the use of psychedelic drugs in psychotherapy in the '60s, Waking Lines flawlessly depicts that point where dreams and reality meet. A word to the wise, it's time to wake up. Patterns are here to open your mind and shape your world. Vinyl is pressed on heavyweight 180 gram crystal-clear vinyl. 3mm outer sleeve, rounded card inner sleeve, including a download coupon.

MICHAEL A GRAMMAR: Random Vision 12" (MELO 090EP)16.50Michael A. Grammar have journeyed to the darkest depths of East Midlands' underground to record Random Vision -- the ferocious second installment in their series of dramatic 12" EP releases. From the explosion of "Upstairs Downstairs'" anthemic chorus to the driving melody of 8-minute closer "The Way You Move," Random Vision unveils a psychedelic sense of wonder, recalling Boards Of Canada's mind-ensconcing atmospherics, The Beta Band (had they been chowing down on Ritalin), or Broadcast. Includes download code.

KING OF THE MOUNTAINS: Zoetrope LP (MELO 091LP)20.00LP version with download code. If the scattershot ideas of Melodic Records' schizophrenically brilliant Manchester experimentalists Working From A Nuclear City seemed to be aural metaphors for a galactic explosion, then King Of The Mountains, the new project of their songwriter, keyboardist and producer Phil Kay, hones in on a singular galaxy hurtling away from the blast's initial impact into the cosmos. With his debut solo LP, the now-London-based artist detaches himself from his band's tumult of sonic thoughts and sets flight for more cohesive plains. King Of The Mountains is built largely around electronics but with its creator embellishing these artificial sounds with a variety of live instrumentation. There are wonderfully interwoven structures, ranging from swelling, tempestuous dancefloor filler to richly-textured maps of gently bustling sound and ambient secretions. King Of The Mountains contains grandeur even among its more direct four-to-the-floor yearnings; tracks like the sprawling "Zoetrope" are constantly looking for pathways out of their tightly-meshed digital fabric, while the likes of "Surrounded" seek to stimulate the imagination, offering woozy half-light evocations. For a decade, Kay was part of the aforementioned Working For A Nuclear Free City -- who produced three critically-acclaimed albums between 2006 and 2011 and saw their music included in numerous TV series, films and advertisements (including the very first cook-up scene in Breaking Bad). However, he found his and co-songwriter Gary McClure's tunes were starting to drift further apart. It's true that there isn't much battling to be found here, with each track as though a different world, like moving through levels on an old arcade computer game. What differs between this and WFANFC though, is that there's a thread holding them together -- elements that recur and snaps of sound that come back to you. Kay does most of his electronic work on antiquated software, using Windows XP and the same software he has for the past decade, relishing in attempting to challenge their limitations. While his gear remains the same, though, Kay's wandering mind is always in flux -- epitomized in this brilliant debut solo effort.

MIE (UK)

SARIN SMOKE: Vent LP (MIE 013LP)23.002012 release. MIE present the latest LP by Sarin Smoke entitled Vent, which follows the 2007 Three Lobed recording of Smokescreen, which was recorded when both Tom Carter and Pete Swanson were still living in California. After performing at a concert in Oakland, 2010 and feeling proud of their musical output, Tom and Pete decided to collaborate with one another again. The resulting record amalgamates Tom's self-oscillating, power-starved shredding psychedelia with Pete's self-proclaimed "more neanderthal attempts at VU/Roy Montgomery-inspired simple melodicism." Ultimately, the album is an unusual haze of oscillator sweeps, dying batteries, ripping solos and clean(ish) two-chord backbones forming a very unique angle on the possibilities that the "psychedelic rock" format could aspire towards. Limited to 500 copies. Cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk.

PELT: Effigy 2LP (MIE 015LP)29.002013 repress. MIE Records are unbelievably honored to present Effigy by Pelt, the first album recorded since 2007 by the acoustic-only droners. Recorded live in June 2011 in an old yoga studio in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin and a decommissioned synagogue called the Gates of Heaven in nearby Madison, the band have laid down their most accomplished and fully-realized work to date. Epic in every sense of the word, Effigy is a sprawling journey through their singular plan on the musical map. Layer upon layer of droning strings melt over never-ending harmoniums which threaten to engulf you while peals of gongs ring out to mesmerizing effect. Effigy sees Pelt reaching their blissful sonic enlightenment. Effigy is a testament to the ancient animal-shaped mounds called "effigy mounds" which dot the landscape in and around Madison, Wisconsin. No one has yet managed to work out who built these creations. Over the centuries they have greatly reduced in size but still the largest can measure up to 400 feet in length, and the outlines of birds, lizards, deer and bears are all clearly visible to the observer. Soil would have been carried from afar to construct these huge monuments with only crude implements at hand. The erection of the monuments would have surely been carried out by practically an army of workers or inhabitants and taken a very long time to build, indeed. Effigy comes as a 2LP with stunning gatefold artwork by Jake Blanchard. Mastered by James Plotkin. The first edition was limited to a run of 500 2LPs. Repressed in 2013 in a second run of 500 2LPs.

KOBOKU SENJU: Joining the Queue to Become One of Those Ordinary Ghosts LP (MIE 016LP)23.002013 release. Koboku Senjû, meaning something like a "Selection of Dead Trees," is the quintet of Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura, Martin Taxt, Eivind Lønning, and Espen Reinertsen. Akiyama and Nakamura, on guitar and no-input mixing board respectively, have long been two of the leading improvisers from the Tokyo scene, and Lønning, Reinertsen, and Taxt, on trumpet, saxophone and tuba respectively, are three young and active improvisers from Norway with an increasing reputation for their adventurous yet mature musicality. Joining the queue to become one of those ordinary ghosts is a record of stunning minimal beauty; listen closely and get drawn into Koboku Senjû's empire of exquisitely-crafted noise. The LP was recorded live by Morten Brekke Stensland during a live performance at Cafeteateret, Oslo, on August 31st 2011. It was mixed and mastered by Toshimaru Nakamura before being cut at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin. The cover design and artwork is by Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek) and the liner-notes by David Sylvian. Released in a run of 350 copies.

GALBRAITH, ALASTAIR: Cry LP (MIE 017LP)23.002013 release. Cry was recorded in a shed at Taieri Mouth between 1998 and 2000 and then released by Emperor Jones on CD in 2000. Alastair Galbraith has always been one of the most admired yet paradoxically ignored musicians from the New Zealand underground since he first started out in The Rip on Flying Nun Records in the early 1980s. Having already worked with the incredibly talented New Zealander otherwise known as Michael Morley, it seemed natural for MIE's next step to go on to work with Alastair on getting one of his finest records issued for the first time on vinyl. Listening to the immensely personal and intimate Cry is like looking directly into the furthest recesses of Galbraith's mind. Weaving the fabric of the record with guitar, violin, organ, and vulnerable murmurs, frequently reversing and inverting instruments through four-track manipulations, Cry is at once haunting and unsettling. Alastair creates an incredibly complex mindscape with tenebrous drones, hushed, lilted words and a sense of deep warmth, pulling you further and further into the innermost intricacies of his world. Submerged deep within this world you start to see the faint rays of light and hope which have earned this record its place in New Zealand's musical landscape. Issued on vinyl for the first time in a run of 500 LPs. Original artwork by Alastair Galbraith. Mastered by Craig Stewart.

HEY COLOSSUS: Cuckoo Live Life Like Cuckoo CD (MIE 018CD)14.00Presenting Cuckoo Live Life Like Cuckoo, the eighth album from the London/Somerset eight-piece, Hey Colossus. Now in their 10th year, the band have been gathering plaudits and accumulating new fans with every release, and after playing to thousands at Supersonic Festival, things are accelerating at an even faster pace. As with each album release, Hey Colossus continue to mutate and for their eighth album they have enlisted the support of a new drummer, Part Chimp guitar/vox man, Tim Cedar, who has undoubtedly brought a whole new kind of energy that has reinvigorated the band. When the rhythm section takes a shot to the bow it's only natural for the game to change. But long-term supporters need not worry, they're still heavy, still got the same vibe, only now they are focused in a fresh way. Cuckoo Live Life Like Cuckoo was recorded live to tape throughout 2012 in Dropout Studios, South London, by Mr. Westminster Brown, mastered by James Plotkin. For this recording, Hey Colossus opt for a hefty hi-fi sound when previously they were drenched in lo-fi fuzz. Now there is room to breathe, when before they were utterly unrelenting. Tape loops and walls of noise created by bass and drum, rhythmic klang, dual vocals, and three guitars are supplemented by a variety of instruments including the ba?lama saz, turntables and synths -- adding a whole new dynamic to their sound. These are signs of a band who are playing with their ears open and it's all systems go.

BOWLES & SCOTT VERRASTRO, NATHAN: Polar Satellites LP (MIE 019LP)23.002013 release. MIE releases Polar Satellites, the stunning collaboration by Nathan Bowles (Pelt/Black Twig Pickers) and Scott Verrastro (Kohoutek) on LP. Polar Satellites is a mesmerizing collection of percussion improvisations performed in duo by Nathan and Scott deep in the winter of 2009 and 2010 with absolutely no overdubs. Building on the starkness of Effigy by Pelt, (recently repressed on MIE), the duo have recorded an even bleaker, more minimal and hermetically-vibed record together. Unnerving and hypnotic, Polar Satellites is an intense journey into the unknown, awash with uncategorizable percussive instruments, kalimbas, and banjo. Nathan and Scott first met in Washington D.C. when Nathan would sit in on Kohoutek sets. They were brought together as a duo on a track recorded for Three Lobed Records' Jack Rose tribute album and were so struck by the results that they went down to Black Dirt Studios and laid down these tracks with Jason Meagher on engineering, recording and mixing duties. James Plotkin has again done an excellent job on mastering duties.

YOUNGS, RICHARD: Regions of the Old School 2LP (MIE 021LP)29.002013 release. The first-ever solo double LP by Richard Youngs. After the mind-erasing and shamanic Amaranthine released in January 2012, MIE is ecstatic to be working with Richard again on a true magnum opus of the Youngsian experimental catalog. Regions of the Old School is an epic and proudly sprawling collection of instrumentals and songs. In a conceptual nod to the long out-of-print Festival, released in 1994 by Table Of The Elements, it features five extended tracks scored for a diverse array of instruments with guest vocals by Madeleine Hynes and additional synthesizer by Neil Campbell. Regions of the Old School plunges you into the deep with the incredibly claustrophobic and tense "Insomniac Takeover." Youngs declaims three words over and over while gongs and hand drums skitter over synths and long arcs of guitar feedback. The intense opener is a merciless ode to its namesake. The following track's opening chimes and undulating synths are sublime in their contrast to their predecessor, instead forming a gorgeous tune on a Moog Source with deep and sustained bass throughout. "Celeste" sees Madeleine Hynes on manipulated vocals alongside high-end frequencies contrasted with subdued percussion and gongs. This beautiful little paen brings the record to its epic focal point, "The Thoughtlife." The track slowly reveals a mesmerizing piece with incredible juxtaposition of styles. Gongs, shakuhachi flute, and Neil Campbell's synthesizer weave in and out in perfect symbiosis and the arrival of a long drawn-out and stuttering sub-bass kick solidifies the zen-like quality of the track. "My Love Holds the Galaxy in Her Heart" is a perfect end to this incredible record, a tender and sweet song over metronomic percussion and glockenspiel at the other side of the musical spectrum to the first track. This sprawling yet flowing piece comes to a climax as Youngs' vocals give out suddenly to an extended caustic feedback-riddled guitar solo before falling silent. Regions of the Old School is available in a run of 500 2LPs with stunning gatefold artwork by Madeline Hynes.

MODULOR (FRANCE)

KOOL KEITH & BIG SCHE EASTWOOD: Magnetic Pimp Force Field CD (MOD 051CD)17.00Legendary New York emcee Kool Keith adds another chapter to his long career (Ultramagnetic MC, Rhythm X, Dr. Octagon, Big Willie Smith, Sinister 6000, Tashan Dorrsett), releasing a full-length collaboration with long-time Memphis producer Mr. Sche. This album recalls Keith's successful transplant to the West Coast in the mid-1990s, when he recorded the classic Sex Style album and name-checked Bay Area rising star E-40, among others, deviating sharply from the firm "East Coast" tradition he was instrumental in defining as a member of the Ultramagnetic MCs. This time Keith shares the spotlight with Mr. Sche, better known for work with "Down South" artists such as 8Ball, Al Kapone, and Immortal Lowlife. The pairing works, with Keith's leftfield references (tank tops, Samsung Galaxy phones, space travel, robots, invertebrates, Jesse Helms & Star Wars), meshing well with Sche's synth-infused, soulful, southern beats.

NEW WORLD RECORDS

TAYLOR, CECIL: 3 Phasis LP (NW 303LP)12.00A classic session from 1978 featuring Jimmy Lyons (alto sax), Raphé Malik (trumpet), Ramsey Ameen (violin), Sirone (bass), and Ronald Shannon Jackson (drums). "3 Phasis is a masterwork, a testament to the perfectionism and unpredictability that go hand in hand in Taylor's music...The more you listen, the more you hear. For me, there is sometimes the impression of an inspired wizard and his five disciples conversing at midnight, chewing over ideas, rephrasing them, listening; at other times I'm attracted to the cathartic, exquisitely controlled violence. Cecil Taylor has brought to music a synthesis we've long waited for. 3 Phasis is one its landmarks." -- Gary Giddins

NUEARTH KITCHEN

BAPTISTE & PIERRE COLLEU: Dolphin Kid Remixes Vol. 1 12" (NEK 011I-EP)18.00French brothers Baptiste & Pierre Colleu have been making music together since they were children. They spent a chunk of their childhood in Africa, which they say has inspired their work in the studio. That influence is submerged fairly deep on "Dolphin Kid." There's an undercurrent of eerie soulfulness and woody percussion accents running through this oddly alluring cosmic-house seducer, but its roots are more Balearic than Afrobeat. The five remixes of "Dolphin Kid" from Coyote, Willie Burns, and Jon McMillion enhance the Colleu brothers' original in incrementally fascinating ways.

BAPTISTE & PIERRE COLLEU: Dolphin Kid Remixes Vol. 2 12" (NEK 011II-EP)18.00French brothers Baptiste & Pierre Colleu their second Dolphin Kid EP with two masterly remixes by Black Merlin. His "Romance in the Dark Mix" turns "Dolphin Kid" into a chilling, Goblin-esque piece of dungeon ambience. But it's Merlin's nearly 13-minute "Peyote Mix" that really reels in the cinematic magic, as he launches the cut even deeper into the black, adding thrusting, throbbing disco kicks and enough horror/thriller-film soundtrack signifiers to give John Carpenter a perma-grimace. Poor "Dolphin Kid" has come to a gory, but very exciting end.

OTHER PEOPLE

STIP, VALENTIN: Sigh CD (OP 006CD)17.00On Sigh, producer Valentin Stip's full-length debut on Other People, he organizes classical piano, lightly sputtering grooves and intimate found sounds into an album of compositional grace and emotional honesty. Stip emigrated to New York City in middle school and immediately fell in with a creative crowd -- including then-fledgling producer and future Other People label head Nicolas Jaar. Upon learning the ins and outs of electronic production, Stip discovered a new, more personal way of interpreting the darkly-shaded piano music he'd been writing. He soon released a string of melancholy, beat-based EPs on Nicolas Jaar's Clown & Sunset label, Anytime Will Do (2011) and Angst (2013), and toured alongside Jaar. With eight songs clocking in at nearly an hour and sequenced as a continuous piece of music, Valentin Stip's Sigh charts a winding path through its creator's psyche. As Sigh unfolds, sounds become as tactile as objects: overcast electronic atmospheres rumble and swirl, minimalist piano melodies chime in the distance, and subtle programming percolates like ripples on the surface of a lake. Moments of sombre introspection give way to time-stopping beauty, as when the jet-black drone of "****" opens up into "Regards sur L'Enfance," all sun-dappled vibraphones and sandbox melodies. On "Aletheia," Stip subliminally intones "Everything I say is a lie" as ambient passages give way to Eastern melodies and a gently head-nodding conga beat. Sigh ends with the achingly spare, Debussy-esque chords of its title-track, a heavy-hearted comedown built on little more than a single repeated piano note, pinging static, and -- well in line with its creator's musical worldview -- tiny intakes of breath.

REIGN GHOST: Reign Ghost LP (OSR 019LP)25.50Propulsed by Bob Bryden's fuzzed-out guitar and Lynda Squires' powerful vocals, Reign Ghost were the leading '60s underground psychedelic band from Canada. This is their rare and sought-after debut album from 1969, originally released on the collectable Allied label (Plastic Cloud, Folklords). An absolute psych classic with all the right ingredients: fuzz guitar, swirling organ, male-female vocals, studio effects, weird lyrics, etc. Tracks like "Travels of Blue Paradox" or "Reaching" are a must for any psychedelic rock fan. First-ever legit vinyl reissue. Remastered from the original master tapes. Includes a fold-out insert with rare photos, memorabilia and detailed liner notes by band member Bob Bryden.

REIGN GHOST: Featuring Lynda Squires LP (OSR 020LP)25.50In late 1969, legendary Canadian psych band Reign Ghost recorded their second album, released the following year just when the band had ceased to exist and some of their members had formed prog/psych band, Christmas. This is a fine example of West Coast-styled psych-rock with reverberating/fuzz-wah guitar and male/female vocal harmonies, including absolute psych classics like the monster 9-minute long "Enola Gay." One of the rarest and most expensive Canadian psych albums ever, officially reissued on vinyl for the first time. Newly remastered sound from the original tapes. Includes a fold-out insert with rare photos, memorabilia and detailed liner notes by band member Bob Bryden.

31 FLAVORS, THE: Hair LP (OSR 021LP)25.50In the late '60s, a bunch of mysterious psychedelic exploitation albums were released by the budget Crown label in the U.S. Issued under different band names (The Firebirds, Underground Electrics, 31 Flavors, etc.), they were recorded by an anonymous group of studio musicians. Hair by 31 Flavors is the counterpart to Light My Fire by The Firebirds. Along with demented raw garage covers of "Hair" and "Aquarius," it contains some of the heaviest, fuzzed-out exploitation sounds ever committed to vinyl. You can hear echoes of Blue Cheer, Hendrix and Sabbath, featuring proto-doom, heavy-psych bombs like "Distortions of Darkness."

STACK: Above All LP (OSR 022LP)25.50Definitive reissue of this wild and heavy psychedelic hard-rock album from California, 1969, released in tiny quantities at the time. Ultra-loud guitars (think Blue Cheer or late '60s Who), melodic vocals and a thundering rhythm section. Features newly-remastered sound and features the original artwork and an insert with extensive liner notes by genre expert Clark Faville and lots of rare pictures/memorabilia. Includes a bonus track taken from a previously-unreleased acetate.

PALACE RECORDS

BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY: Ease Down The Road LP (PAL 026LP)15.002014 repress, LP version; originally released 2011. "Twelve songs, dealing lovingly with adultery and vivisection, with the bold ignorance of weakness, and with keeping verse-chorus-funnypart respected in the grand order of things. Plus kids, unborn and unconceived even, and perversity of humanity and harmony. For the record, it was David Pajo and Will Oldham that roped everybody in, and they added all their parts to the mix too."

PARTICLES (UK)

VA: Portobello Explosion Part Two CD (PART 4035CD)17.00Portobello Explosion Part Two: Collected Artefacts of Illustrious Noise 1966-1970 offers another exclusive snapshot of London's 1960s music scene. A vibrant explosion of mod pop euphoria and R&B cool culled from rare and obscure singles defining an era of attitude and energy that has remained headily influential over its teenage contemporaries. It's finally time to put some fuzz in your freakbeat with 20 swinging Mod sounds that ruled the world. Includes a 16-page booklet with comprehensive liner notes and rare color photographs. Digitally remastered. Artists include: Jigsaw, Jason James, Steve Hammond, Made In Sheffield, West Point Supernatural, Studio Six, Peeps, Storm, Edentree, Pop Workshop, Mary McCarthy, Falling Leaves, Jig-Saw Band, The Mojos, Shere Khan, Curiosity Shoppe, and The Executives.

RIVERS, SAM: The Quest LP (PR 7015LP)12.00Exact repro, originally released in 1977. Containing the four-part suite "The Quest," recorded in Milan with Dave Holland (bass) and Barry Altschul (drums). "The work is masterly from the point of view of continuous creation, balance, and the intelligent interweavings of the music, and for its stylistic complexity aware of FREE MUSIC, but going beyond..."

PNN (GERMANY)

KARMIL, MATT: A Lot to Share 12" (PNN 006EP)12.50A new era is when a significant event or a discovery or invention changes the circumstances of many or even all people sustainably. It basically involves a positive or neutral evaluation of this age. Thus, the first public steam railway built by George Stephenson in 1825 marked the beginning of a new era of mobility. Also the theses of Martin Luther at Wittenberg initiated the era of the Reformation. Not to forget the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the resulting German reunification. After Reverse Peephole and remixes for Popnoname, Matt Karmil comes up with a new 12", A Lot to Share.

RITUAL PRODUCTIONS (UK)

BONG: Stoner Rock CD (RITE 025CD)14.00Ultimate drone-lords Bong have summoned the tones of the elder gods with their epic new genre-defining album, Stoner Rock, their fourth full-length release on Ritual Productions. Recorded at Blank Studio, Newcastle, the album "is a tongue-in-cheek dig at our usual classification as 'stoner rock' and what the term has come to represent. The idea is to create our own definition of 'stoner rock' by creating an album so utterly stoned and repetitive to be a million miles away from the usual definition. Those who know Bong already will get both the humor and the philosophical redefinition... those who don't know us will either get it when they listen or will never understand Bong at all." Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, sonically speaking, Stoner Rock ventures further into the abyss, gravitating toward an endless void, and with the magnitude of their ritualistic, mesmeric drones, we have no choice but to follow. Featuring artwork by Zdzislaw Beksinski.

ROOTS (GERMANY)

JEFFERSON, BLIND LEMON: Volume 1 LP (RL 301LP)12.00Exact repro of this 1970 compilation, originally released on the Austrian label Roots in 1970. Includes the song "Black Snake Moan." "The father of Texas blues, Blind Lemon Jefferson began a successful recording career for Paramount Records in 1926 in Chicago, recording over 100 sides until his death at age 35 in 1929... his songs have also been covered by many rock artists including, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Grateful Dead."

SUN RA & HIS ARKESTRA: Bad And Beautiful LP (SATURN 532HLP)14.002014 repress. 180 gram vinyl version. All recorded at the Choreographers' Workshop, New York, November or December 1961. Tracklisting: The Bad and the Beautiful, Ankh, Just in Time, Search Light Blues, Exotic Two, On the Blue Side, And This is My Beloved. A tape of these sessions was sold to Alan Bates of Black Lion/Freedom records (probably in 1970). It also included an incomplete, untitled piano and bass duet and an incomplete title featuring piano and percussion.

SHIMMY SHAM SHAM (GERMANY)

SHIMMY SHAM SHAM: Shimmy Sham Sham 06 12" (SHIMMY 006EP)12.50For this edition of Shimmy Sham Sham, there are three delectable and diverse cuts to choose from. The A-side is one long, emotional ride through the most dreamy of deep house with a heart-wracking soul vocal that may be familiar to some. The B1 is a feisty machine workout that leaves enough room for some crafty flute bites and dramatic synth stabs, while the B2 comes sidling up with a sweet message of beautifully filtered chords slowly poured over a bubbly bass line, the beat lazily skipping into the perfect laconic groove to set your mind at ease.

SONBOY RECORDS

AMIRI BARAKA & THE SPIRIT HOUSE MOVERS: Black & Beautiful, Soul & Madness CD (SONBOY 003CD)14.00Restocked. The original 1968 studio recording of Black & Beautiful, Soul & Madness by Amiri Baraka & The Spirit House Movers is finally available. Originally released on Baraka's legendary Jihad label (along with the Sun Ra/LeRoi Jones collaboration A Black Mass. "After 40 years of constant chatter and occasionally a snippet heard by some radio DJ who had a copy, this record has for most people been something that they heard about but never heard. 'Beautiful Black Women' was both a love song and an anthem coming to us in the midst of the fire that was the '60s. 'Madness' was always my favorite because it spoke about the ultimate conclusion of a society going mad. It is even more relevant today than it was then. With this release, Sonboy Records continues its commitment to re-issuing the entire Jihad catalog." --Thomas J. Porter."The spoken word/soul/jazz albumBlack & Beautiful, Soul & Madness is both an invaluable artifact of its political and musical moment, as well as a challenge to contemporary listeners to listen harder and more thoughtfully about what our music is daring us to do. The opening track, 'Beautiful Black Women,' features Baraka reciting, or rather expounding, his poem with accompaniment by an understated bass by Bobby Lyle and the Singers cooing the refrain from 'Ooo Baby Baby' by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Anticipating the mash-up genre by several decades, Baraka and the Spirit House Movers throw down the gauntlet immediately: here we have, in one track, the soul-pop hit and Baraka's exhortation to and excoriation of a Black American culture obsessed with Whiteness, the one sound commenting on and complementing the other. The juxtaposition is precisely the point. The performance is an embodiment of Baraka's 'blues people' (articulated in his eponymous book), the continuum of Black music and art that, he argues, resists a (Western) aesthetic that would divide art into high and low or folk and serious. We are not allowed to simply sit back and groove, although the groove is still there. The album could almost be played at a party; if enough drinks are passed around, the party guests might not notice Baraka's conclusion that "The White man, at best, is corny"...The work is not merely historical or documentary (although that aspect of the recordings is crucially important); these records must be heard, in all their shocking beauty and ugliness, as part of a living art." -- Brent Mix/Junkmedia.org."Black & Beautiful, Soul & Madness was the first word-music record I did completely devoted to this form. One piece on a New York Art Quartet side earlier, but Black & Beautiful was recorded at my home and in the small theater my wife, Amina, and I built there The Spirit House (33 Stirling St.) shortly after I had returned home to Newark, NJ, after the implosion of the Harlem based Blacks Arts Repertory Theater-School. Spirit House, like the Black Arts, was created to present Black theater, poetry, music and political dialogue. B&B was not the only side done on those premises, under the record label we created, Jihad A Black Mass with Sun Ra & His Myth Science Arkestra was another. Sonny's Time Now with Sonny Murray and Donald Ayler the third. B&B featured Yusef Iman, an actor I met at the Black Arts who began to come to the Spirit House after the Arts folded. Yusef was a member of the Spirit House Movers & Players which we shortened to The Spirit House Movers (inspired by the dudes in a bar we went to who worked for a moving company). The singing group B&B, the Jihad Singers, was an R&B singing group that Yusef was a member of, the lead singer Freddie Johnson, who I never saw again after the record date. All the musicians were local. Singer Aireen Eternal was Yusef's wife. In our mind we wanted to create world-music that reflected the Motown vibe so popular in the late-'60s. 'Beautiful Black Women' used Smokey Robinson's 'OOOH Baby, Baby' as a model. 'Black And Beautiful' was created by Yusef & Freddie and seemed a classic R&B du-wop send-up. But we also had a clear vision of what we wanted to say regarding the Afro-American struggle for equal rights and self-determination, at least we thought of ourselves as cultural workers, revolutionary artists 'pushing the program' as some of our cultural nationalist comrades were wont to say. I think you can feel our excitement and commitment." --Amiri Baraka, September, 2009The Spirit House Movers: Freddy Johnson (lead & tenor), Leonard Cathcart (tenor), Aireen Eternal (2nd tenor), Gilbert Monk (baritone), Yusef Iman (bass), LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) (spoken-word).

STUDIO BARNHUS (SWEDEN)

HAYDO, SIMON: I Watch Them All as They Fall 12" (BARN 019EP)14.00Please meet Simon Haydo, one of the key players in Stockholm's true school techno scene. A debut EP on Pär Grindvik's Stockholm LTD in 2008 and a mid-00s residency at legendary underground party Kruthuset was followed by a few years of cold, mysterious silence, which then suddenly and violently ended with the formation of Simon's DEM label in early 2013. Seven brilliant DEM releases later, Simon delivers his Studio Barnhus debut. These fierce & fresh Haydo jams represent the very finest in MS20-induced techno hypnosis and make a perfect addition to the ever-expanding Barnhus catalog.

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES

VA: Bush Taxi Mali: Field Recordings from Mali LP (SF 012LP)18.50Bush Taxi Mali: Field Recordings from Mali is an aural tour through the heart of Mali. These field recordings were made by Tucker Martine in 1998 while traveling throughout the West African country. This blend of bluesy ngonis, clamoring street sounds, the stunning voice of Jalimusa Amanita Diabaté (of the famous Diabaté family), passing radios, Fulani flutes, runaway sound systems, and chants from the Dogon country creates a unique portrait of Mali's rich musical heritage. Eventually Martine found himself in the backseat of a beat-up Peugeot on his way to the village of Kela, a Jeli village, where the songs and traditions of the Mande people have been scrupulously preserved. Some of the musical performances heard on this LP were made during that visit. Bush Taxi Mali is a strikingly original tapestry of the ancient traditions of Mali in the modern era. Limited edition LP reissue of the original 2005 CD in a heavy-duty tip-on jacket with gorgeous, redesigned front and back cover photos, including a two-sided insert featuring liner notes by producer Tucker Martine and his photographs of the musicians.

SUBLIMINAL SOUNDS (SWEDEN)

PERSSON, BO ANDERS: Love Is Here to Stay CD (SUBL 087CD)15.50The early works by Bo Anders Persson presented on this record were written between 1965 and 1967, before he started the experimental rock band Pärson Sound. The CD version is housed in a digipack sleeve including a booklet with in-depth, informative liner-notes and pictures. All but one track is previously-unreleased. What is the origin of this strange, un-place-able music? What is its place in history, in the unfolding of important conceptual ideas, turning musical modernism into something wider, more mysterious and blurred? From where comes the lightness of touch, and how does the transient nature of the sounds correspond to the sense of mourning hidden within the music? What makes the music so exciting and loaded is the feeling of change, both in the actual performances and in the atmosphere of the rooms where the pieces are played. The sounds move freely within the minimal, repetitive structures. There are spaces for breathing and dreaming, turning inside and outside, and a sense of being in between positions. Suddenly, the doors are wide open and radical experiments can take place.

SUSANNASONATA (NORWAY)

MINIBUS PIMPS: Cloud to Ground LP+CD (SONATA 010LP)22.00Minibus Pimps is a duo featuring the legendary John Paul Jones -- former bassist in Led Zeppelin -- and prolific electronic musician, improviser, and producer Helge Sten (Deathprod, Supersilent), which has existed since its first performance in 2011. The debut album Cloud to Ground contains seven tracks, all recorded live at different venues, from London's Café Oto to venues in Norway and Denmark. The secret of Minibus Pimps' colossal sonic gas giants is their use of the Kyma computer system (created by Symbolic Sound). Instruments such as guitar, bass and violin are fed into the system and radically transformed by self-designed digital instruments and processors until their sources are barely recognizable. This method continues John Paul Jones' experiments with computer music which began as far back as the late '70s. With titles referencing what scientists call "remarkable luminous phenomena in nature," the tracks are scintillating exercises in bending timbres and refracting sound signals. "Black Aurora" is an electronic suite in four movements, pulsing and hovering like some collapsing dark star. The title-track is a monstrous duet for icicles and cathedral organ, and the other pieces are masses of sound and noise explored in different densities. John Paul Jones played as a session musician with Donovan, Herman's Hermits, Jeff Beck, Françoise Hardy, and many others until co-founding Led Zeppelin with Jimmy Page. He has collaborated or produced a range of artists including Diamanda Galás, R.E.M., Foo Fighters, Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney, and many more. His most recent group is Them Crooked Vultures. Helge Sten has been making electronic music since the early '90s, both under the name Deathprod and, since 1997, as a member of the improvising group Supersilent. One of Norway's most innovative and uncompromising artists, his "audio virus" has spread across the music of many collaborators including Motorpsycho, Susanna, Biosphere, and more.

TAPETE (GERMANY)

BRACE/CHOIR: Turning on Your Double CD (TR 281CD)17.00With their follow-up to 2010's self-titled EP, Brace/Choir have made an LP of idiosyncratic trance-rock geared towards the listener of whole albums. At its core, Turning on Your Double is a series of dark and ecstatic tales of mental illness, written and recorded in Berlin, Germany amidst tectonic shifts both personal and political. The eight songs are a meditation on social and individual struggles with compulsive disorders, power and inverted schizophrenia: four people united by an idealistic vision of collaboration who come to think they're one -- and the cracks that show in their lives and personalities when the music stops. Multi-instrumentalists Alex Samuels, Max Gassman, Cristoph Adrian and Dave Youssef have committed to switching instruments and writing each other's lyrics in order to allow each instrument to speak with multiple voices and each voice to speak from the depths of multiple psyches. Or is it one? The sound is a shifting and shadowy amalgam of treated hollow body guitars, Farfisa organ, various synthesizers (Roland Alpha Juno 1, MFB Synth 2), percussion, and drums. Themes such as cuckoldry ("Be Let Down"), satanic fiction ("Biond"), technology-related neuroses ("Coil"), and the killing of Osama bin Laden ("Fallmen") are unveiled through a combination of rapturous improvisation and sublime songwriting, while "Five Fingered Leaf" showcases a powerful reworking of the Arseny Tarkovsky poem "But There Has to Be More," as featured in Andrei Tarkovsky's classic film Stalker. Childhood friends and Massachusetts natives Samuels and Gassmann met Californian Youssef and Berliner Adrian in Berlin in 2005 and formed the Joy Division-inspired speed-surf band Dus Vor Kount. While Samuels went to Berlin to pursue a degree in philosophy and work as a journalist in 2000, Gassmann was working as a street musician and bicycle mechanic. When Youssef and Adrian went on hiatus from the band (writing a PhD dissertation and training as a speech therapist, respectively) Gassmann and Samuels continued on as a duo and, out of necessity, learned to play other instruments. When the four were reunited in 2008, Brace/Choir was born, now committed to switching instruments, making slower, more repetitive music, and writing each other's lyrics. The band has played Berlin's most important under- and overground venues, including the Berghain, Kater Holzig and Wilde Renate. They've also opened for such diverse acts as Kurt Vile in Leipzig and doom supergroup Shrinebuilder. Festival appearances include 2011's Friction Fest and multiple Fusion Festivals. Songs from their debut EP have been featured on the BBC (Tom Robinson's "Introducing") and American college radio (97.3 WRIR Richmond, Virginia and 88.1 KDHX St. Louis). In 2011, the band contributed a song to the Le Diable Amoureaux compilation put together by Swedish occult publishing house Malört Vörlag, which commemorated the re-printing of the earliest work of Satanic fiction by French author Jacques Cazotte and also features Jarboe, John Zorn, Gavin Friday, and Art Zoyd (amongst others).

TEMPA (UK)

AXH: Destroy 12" (TEMPA 086EP)12.50Tempa presents a three-track affair from Boston-based producer AxH. Having grown up on hip-hop and jungle, in recent years AxH has steadily been gathering attention for his low-slung, rolling takes on dubstep and cryptic ear for melody. His tracks have become regulars in the radio shows and record bags of Youngsta and J:Kenzo. "Destroy" matches its name, lumbering from speaker stacks in a barrage of crumpling percussion, shuddering the space around it as it goes, while "Everdine" is atmospheric, cinematic halfstep that plumbs sinister psychic depths. "Giant Footprints" is machinic and robotic in tone, lashing out against pinprick melody lines.

BUREAUCRATS, THE: Feel The Pain/Grown Up Age 7" (UP 035EP)6.50"The Bureaucrats only released one 45 and a couple comp tracks during their short career, but this 1980 single is one of the very best-- and rarest-- of all Canadian punk records. Two songs here, recorded in December 1979, and each is a bright star in the early punk/pop pantheon, both surging, memorable tunes delivered with loads of energy and angst. A Canadian counterpart to The Jam, Buzzcocks, Undertones, Clash etc, and genuinely that good. In pocket sleeve with new insert."

POINTED STICKS: What Do You Want Me To Do? 7" (UP 036EP)6.50"These early Vancouver punks released some pretty great records over their short career, but this 1978 debut will probably remain the classic 45 they'll be best known for. Nothing fancy, art-damaged or vicious here, just two near-perfect blasts of loud, snappy, melodic punk that's inspired countless bands since. Certainly not the rarest or most obscure record, but one that deserves to be readily available to anyone with a taste for quality punk rock singles. Color pocket sleeve."

HACKAMORE BRICK: Oh! Those Sweet Bananas 7" (UP 040EP)6.50"Hackamore Brick's sole 1970 LP on Kama Sutra remains a much-desired artifact of its era, a primordial expression of seminal proto-punk and early Velvets worship. While there are several great tracks on the LP, it's long been my opinion that Oh! Those Sweet Bananas was criminally over-looked and should really have been a 45 from the start. One of the great lost songs of the period, it's a quick, catchy and instantly addictive burst of NYC garage punk pop at the dawn of the '70s. The flip is a beautiful and memorable slow-burner, and a different take to that on the LP. A slight change of pace for Ugly Pop, but a long-time favorite that anyone with good taste will appreciate. New picture sleeve, one-time-only pressing of 500 copies."

BATORS' DEAD BOYS, STIV: Last Stand 1980 EP 7" (UP 042EP)6.50"When erstwhile Dead Boys Stiv Bators and Jimmy Zero decided to give it another shot with a summer 1980 US tour, they assembled a pretty crack backing band-- George Cabaniss (Hammer Damage) on guitar, Frank Secich (Blue Ash) on bass and David Quinton (Mods, Arson) on drums-- and proceeded to take it on the road. Over thirty years later, Quinton has remastered the original excellent-quality board tapes from three of the shows to come up with incendiary takes on all-time American punk rock monsters 'Son Of Sam', 'Third Generation Nation' and 'All This And More'. 100% authorized release with four-page insert featuring extensive liners and unseen pictures."

COCKNEY REJECTS: Flares 'n Slippers 7" (UP 043EP)6.50"Released on Small Wonder in 1979, this unassuming slab signaled the emergence of a new genre, kickstarting both the Rejects' career and the entire oi movement. Debuting with three tracks of quick, raw and exuberant punk rock clearly inspired by the likes of Cock Sparrer, UK Subs and Sham 69, Cockney Rejects went on to sign with EMI and write a number of all time classics, but this is where it all started. High-quality authorized reissue, taken from the masters and packaged in full-color jacket."

BENT WIND: Sussex LP (UP 045LP)21.00"The Holy Grail of Canadian rock, this raw, murky slab of heavy psych was released by local indie label Trend in autumn 1970 and immediately sank without a trace. Over the decades, however, obsessive fans and collectors of the era's unsung greats gradually came to recognize the obscure Toronto band's genius, the now impossible-to-find original LP eventually trading hands for $5000+ plus in the rare vinyl market. After years of bootlegs, compact discs and pricey European pressings, this mythical Canadian LP is finally available at home in its intended format for the first time in 44 years."

THOR'S HAMMER: If You Knew: Icelandic Punk & Beat '65-'67 LP (UP 046LP)21.00"Best known to garage enthusiasts for 'My Life', their stellar contribution to the second Nuggets box, Thor's Hammer was also responsible for an incredibly scarce 1966 EP that is easily among the toughest records of the era. Ugly Pop now presents this long-overdue LP, compiling 14 mid '60s nuggets-- the above mentioned monsters included-- from these Icelandic garage legends, who seasoned their northern beat with some of the rawest, wildest fuzzpunk heard anywhere. Fully authorised high quality pressing licensed from SENA (Iceland)."

UPSET THE RHYTHM (UK)

RAVIOLI ME AWAY/DOG CHOCOLATE: Ravioli Me Away/Or LP (UTR 063LP)22.00Here's a new installment in Upset The Rhythm's split LP series, that's previously seen Gary War, Purple Pilgrims, Please and Spin Spin The Dogs swap sides most recently. This record teams up like-mindedly loopy, art-damaged Londoners Ravioli Me Away and Dog Chocolate. Inspired by an evening when both bands performed at London's DIY-hub Power Lunches, this LP came together through mutual appreciation, as well as gastronomic necessity. Ravioli Me Away are a dangerously ambitious and delusional all-girl jazzy, post-pop-punk, hip-funk outfit with a stylistic theme spanning all past, present and future human cultures and subcultures. Consider vintage Bananarama played with twice the sass and urgency, only reflected in the eyes of a much-overworked and downright exhausted Julie Burchill on acid. Featuring members of Plug and the aforementioned Spin Spin The Dogs, Ravioli Me Away don't shy away from the impeccable vocal melodies and clattersome hooks you'd expect. "Mic Check" is as hypnotic as it is sparse with plaintive keyboard touches and interplaying vocals that gambol across the drum machine. "Cat Call" is a triumph of questing bass lines and eerie synth blushes, locked down by Sian's charismatic choruses and Alice's asides. Dog Chocolate are an elasticated, punk quartet based on the principles of self-propulsion and having too much fun. Jono plays a couple of drums, Matthew plays a guitar and a load of pedals, Rob plays another guitar and sings selected songs while Andrew sings most of the songs and plays impressionistic blasts of keyboard when he's not. Or sees the band sprint through 10 tracks of barely-controlled chaotic glee. Never dwelling for long, Dog Chocolate treat us to songs about pregnancy, poisoned eyes, public transport, and cakes. Their observational, often candid lyrics match their nonsensical attitude to their music, too, which tumbles and chases pitch-shifted guitars through thick forests of feedback and blasting drums. Dog Chocolate/Ravioli Me Away makes for a winning split LP, showcasing London's glorious underground. Limited to 500 copies on 180 gram black-n-green vinyl with printed insert and dual sleeve.

WATERGATE RECORDS (GERMANY)

CHANDLER, KERRI: Watergate 15 CD (WG 015CD)17.00Next in line to mix it up for the illustrious Watergate CD series is New Jersey house innovator and widely-loved scene figurehead Kerri Chandler. With the club now in its 11th year, and with this series hitting installment number 15, and in light of Kerri's long-running relationship with Watergate, it is the perfect coming together of two clubbing tour de forces. Across the course of 18 tracks, the MadHouse and MadTech boss, tireless DJ and ever-evolving house producer lays out his vision of house music as it sounds in 2013, calling on tracks old and new from a wide array of labels as well as some exclusives, including two brand-new productions from Chandler himself. Also worth noting is the fact that the compilation was recorded live, so it transmits a certain raw energy you don't get with many mixes, and is so expertly done, it takes you right to middle of the dancefloor and below the club's famous lights without actually having to leave your own home. The mix kicks off with the excitable diva house of Detroit Swindle before touching on the bass line-heavy workout of Headless Ghost. Mixed as expertly as you would expect of someone who has been doing so for more than 20 years, the journey goes on to take in MadTech act No Artificial Colours before Kerri's own "Think of Something" track made exclusively for this mix proves him to be as pioneering as ever with its fulsome house bounce and warm musical tropes. Dipping into techier stuff from Bass Culture boss D'Julz, Oslo's returning talent Johnny D and the charismatic organic stylings of Real Cool's "U Know U Know," all shades of the house spectrum are catered to here in typically cohesive style. Also included along the way is another Kerri exclusive "Mama," this time made in collaboration with Ibadan Records boss Jerome Sydenham. That track is one of many jewels in this mix's crown and serves as yet another reminder that despite having first started producing and remixing for Atlantic Records in the late '80s for acts like Kool & The Gang, Kerri Chandler is as relevant and refreshing as any. Large swathes of the electronic world might have been aping Chandler's unique house blueprint in the last 12 months, but the man himself has continued to move forward, as this timeless Watergate 15 mix proves in spades. Also features Huxley, Chris Lattner, Alex Mills, Alix Alvarez, Nathan Barato, Clé, Italoboyz vs. Blind Minded, Nu (feat. Jo Ke), Renato Figoli, Subb-an, Jamie Jones, The Martinez Brothers (feat. Phil Weeks), Nick Fanciulli, Losoul, Tom Demac, DJ W!ld, and Shonky.

WE CAN ELUDE CONTROL (UK)

CRIPPA, ROBERTO: Reverse LP (WCEC 010LP)23.00We Can Elude Control presents the debut album from London-based electronic musician Roberto Crippa. Reverse brings together a body of work that draws influence from the worlds of noise, electroacoustic composition and musique concrète, forming a powerful and ritualistic study of sonic structure and material. Within the sculptural engineering of silence, space and raw electronics, Crippa employs a variety of sources ranging from wood, metal, drum skin and amplified concrete, constructing an innovative narrative exploration of sonic depth and contrast. The album reflects Crippa's work as one of London's key performers within the noise and improvised music scene, crafting a refined expansion of his full frequency live shows presented at the likes of Noise=Noise and Café OTO as well as Industria Superstudio in his native city of Milan. Reverse forms Crippa's landmark statement connecting the dots between his immersive gallery-based installations and visceral performances, shedding light on one of London's most unique underground electronic artists. Artwork and design by Roberto Crippa.

WILDE CALM RECORDS

BOONLORM: String Figures 12" (WC 002EP)9.00"Last available copies of this 2012 EP String Figures, the latest project from Pocketknife working under his new moniker Boonlorm. A six track EP featuring 'piano not piano' house music created solely with a prepared piano and raw drum programming that pays homage to Chicago, Detroit, and the 20th century avant-garde. String Figures buzzes, vibrates, and jacks all at once. Edition of 500 vinyl copies; screenprinted covers; full-colour insert."

NIROSTA STEEL: Some Say 7" (WC 004EP)8.50"Wilde Calm Records is proud to present Some Say, a recently discovered song from the archive of Arthur Russell. The track was produced and mixed by Arthur in 1985 for a solo project of Steven Hall's that was originally intended for release on Rough Trade Records. Legendary disco producer Bob Blank recorded and engineered the project at his Connecticut-based studio. 'Some Say' features Arthur's classic cello basslines, cracking boom bap drums and Steven's floating vocals and synth pads. In true Arthur fashion, the song abruptly stutters, slinks and lurches halfway through for Steven to complete his Buddhist pop mantra. The B-side features an extended rework of 'Some Say' by Pocketknife using Arthur's BOSS Dr. Rhythm DR-55 drum machine." Last available copies, one per customer.

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